“Above what anyone expected”.
“A fifth of the world’s energy supply stuck.”
President Trump is pushing oil tanker crews to “show some guts” and sail through the Strait of Hormuz.
“These ships should go through the Strait of Hormuz and show some guts, there’s nothing to be afraid of. … They have no Navy, we sunk all their ships,” Trump said, according to Fox News’s Brian Kilmeade, who recounted the president’s remarks during an interview.
“Farmers and small businesses will see dramatically higher costs from diesel.”
As fighting in the Middle East enters its second week, the American Farm Bureau is sounding the alarm on fertilizer prices.
On Monday, the American Farm Bureau held a press conference to discuss the volatility of the fertilizer market since the start of the Iran War. According to the bureau, the Middle East is a key export hub for nitrogen fertilizer, accounting for nearly half of the world’s urea exports and 30% of ammonia exports.
“Fertilizer is not an option to farmers. It’s a critical input,” Zippy Duvall, president of the American Farm Bureau, said.
Duvall told reporters that some farmers might not get the fertilizer they need for the spring planting season.
“It is not just a farm issue. It’s a food security issue and an economic issue for the entire country,” Duvall said.
In Hellam Township, York County, Mike Flinchbaugh, the co-owner of Flinchbaugh’s Orchard and Farm Market, said quotes for fertilizer have increased between 15-25% since the start of the war.
One positive effect is in the WSJ today:
Soaring Gas Prices Are Latest Blow for Auto Industry in Constant Whiplash
A sharp rise in gas prices is a headache automakers—and consumers—don’t have easy answers to
“Rising gas prices are threatening the U.S. auto industry, which recently shifted away from electric vehicles to focus on gas-powered models.”
They had an answer to it but pushed away from the answer (after they and the refiners promoted FUD on EVs)
I remember the OPEC shocks back in the ’70s – painfully for the second one because I’d just bought a thirsty Chevy right before gas prices suddenly doubled. My cars after that one were Datsuns and Toyotas.
Wondering if the Chinese EVs would get a toehold here if prices stay high any length of time.
Climate Town just did a good explainer of how the US ‘car’ companies reverted from trying affordable, efficient cars to return to bigger, less efficient guzzlers for big profits by making everything into a legal “work vehicle”
How Your Parents Ruined Driving