Tidbits
The chief executive officer of failed Silicon Valley Bank, Greg Becker, was on the Board of Directors for the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. Doesn’t that warm the cockles of your heart to know such people are running the Federal Reserve?
The fertilizer supply for this spring planting in Ukraine is ~550,000 mts, which is 20% as much fertilizer as a year ago for the world’s leading sun oil exporter (3rd most used veg oil), 4th largest corn exporter, and 5th largest wheat exporter. Yet, the market still thinks Ukraine will not be short of ag commodities to export.
Temperatures in Argentina’s crop area temperatures were as high as 113°F (45°C) the past week.
A pipeline from Russia’s oil fields southwest through Ukraine to Odessa used to transport ammonia for loading on ships there. That pipeline was idled a year ago, which launched nitrogen prices to the moon. Therefore, Russia has approved the construction of its first terminal to transfer ammonia from train cars to ships in the Black Sea. The facility will be operational by early 2024. Everything else being equal, nitrogen fertilizers will be cheaper in 2024 than now because of this ship loading facility.