Oil exceeds 100 dollars per barrel; Gas, grain and metal prices soar due to Russian invasion

Global commodity prices surged to multi-year highs on Thursday as Russia launched a full -scale invasion of Ukraine, with markets responding instinctively despite steady export flows of Russian crude, gas, grains and metals. to the West.

Brent oil topped $100 a barrel for the first time since 2014, while UK and Dutch gas prices rose 30-40% and Chicago wheat futures hit a nine-year high and means, medium.

Russia supplies 10% of the world’s oil, a third of Europe’s gas and, together with Ukraine, accounts for 29% of world wheat exports and 80% of sunflower oil and 19% of corn exports.

Russia is also a major producer of aluminum, nickel, platinum, palladium, uranium, titanium, coal, wood, and fertilizers.

The country supplies significant volumes of gas to Europe through Ukraine, mainly to countries such as Austria, Italy and Slovakia, as well as Germany and Poland, although the latter obtain most of the Russian gas through other routes.

Russia on Thursday launched an all-out invasion of Ukraine by land, air and sea, the biggest state-on-state attack in Europe since World War II.

Russia’s state pipeline monopoly Gazprom said supplies through Ukraine were normal and Ukraine said its energy infrastructure had not been damaged. Austria also said it was receiving normal gas deliveries.

At least 10 oil traders with Western oil majors and brokerages said there have been no interruptions in the flow of Russian oil, including through the Black Sea.

Russia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan send between 2 and 3 million barrels per day or between 2% and 3% of world supplies to markets through the Black Sea.

Turkey, a member of the western NATO military alliance , has control over the Bosporus that connects the Black and Mediterranean seas.

Ship movement in the Sea of ​​Azov was suspended on Thursday, although Black Sea ports, which account for the bulk of grain and oilseed exports, remained open.

Concerns over aluminum supplies from Russia have pushed aluminum to a record high of $3,449 per tonne, a 21% gain so far this year.

Rusal, the world’s largest aluminum producer outside of China, produced 3.8 million tonnes of aluminum in 2021, about 6% of estimated global production.

Chicago corn futures also climbed to their daily trading limit of 35 cents a pound at $7.16-1/4 a bushel, the highest level since June 2021.