Products affected by the war in Ukraine

The war in Ukraine threatens to further disrupt supply chains , which are already stretched to the limit. Ukraine and Russia may only account for a small proportion of the imports of major manufacturing countries such as Germany and the United States, but they are essential suppliers of raw materials and energy to many crucial areas.



Some of the products affected by the war

According to The Conversation , although the economic consequences of the war – which threatens the lives and livelihoods of many Ukrainians – will always be secondary to the looming humanitarian crisis, these will be some of the products affected by the war :



1. Energy

Many European nations are heavily dependent on Russian energy, particularly gas – through several vital gas pipelines – even such dependence may have influenced postures towards the crisis.



This situation has been suggested to be the reason why Europe has been reluctant to withdraw Russia from the international SWIFT payments system, for example. However, it should be noted that Germany has indefinitely paused the new Baltic gas pipeline Nord Stream 2.



While a complete suspension of Russian gas flows is unlikely for the moment, even small disruptions will have a significant impact. Global reserves of this fuel are low due to the pandemic and energy prices are already rising sharply, impacting consumers and industry.



products affected by the gas war

With gas being an essential input to many supply chains, disruptions would have wide-ranging economic consequences: when gas prices first rose in autumn 2021, UK fertilizer plants closed because the high cost made the supply unsustainable. production.



This led to a shortage of carbon dioxide, which is essential for everything from medical procedures to food preservation. These consequences are likely to be magnified by rising oil and gas prices.



2. Food

Global food prices have already risen sharply during 2021 due to everything from rising energy costs to climate change. It would be possible that producers of consumables will come under greater pressure as the value of inputs increases.



Russia and Ukraine together account for more than a quarter of global wheat exports. The second country alone provides almost half of sunflower oil exports. Both are raw materials, used in many food products. If harvesting and processing are hampered, or if exports are blocked, importers will struggle to replace supplies.



products affected by the wheat war

Some countries are especially dependent on grain from Russia and Ukraine. Turkey and Egypt need them for almost 70% of their cereal imports. The European nation is also China's main supplier of corn.



Planting in other parts of the world could help reduce the impact of food supply disruptions, but Russia is still a major supplier of fertilizer ingredients, so trade sanctions could hurt production elsewhere. places. Meanwhile, deviations in trade flows can be expected: China has already said it will start importing Russian wheat.



3. Transportation

Since global transportation has already been severely affected following the pandemic, a war could create more problems. The modes of transport that are likely to be affected are sea and rail.



Since 2011, regular links have been established for the exchange of goods between China and Europe. Recently, the 50,000th train made this trip. Although rail only carries a small proportion of total freight between Asia and Europe, it has played a vital role during the recent disruptions and is growing steadily.



war-affected products transportation

Trains are being diverted out of Ukraine, and Changsha Mobile Number List experts are optimistic that suspensions will be kept to a minimum. However, countries like Lithuania would see their rail traffic seriously disrupted by sanctions against Russia.



Meanwhile, shipowners began to avoid Black Sea shipping routes, and insurance providers required notification of any such voyage. Although container shipping in that region is a relatively niche market, there is one of the largest container terminals: Odessa.



If Russian forces cut it off, the effects on Ukrainian imports and exports could be considerable, with potentially drastic humanitarian repercussions.



Likewise, rising oil prices due to war is a concern for shipping in general. Freight rates are already extremely high and could go even higher.



war maritime transport

Similarly, there are concerns that cyberattacks will target global supply chains. Since trade relies heavily on online information sharing, this could have far-reaching consequences if shipping lines or infrastructure are attacked. The ripple effect of a cyberattack can be enormous.



4. Metals

Russia and Ukraine lead the world's production of metals such as nickel, copper and iron and are largely involved in the export and manufacturing of other essential raw materials such as neon, palladium and platinum.



The fear of sanctions against Russia has increased the price of these metals. In the case of palladium, for example, the current trading price is almost $2,700 per ounce, up more than 80% since mid-December.