World markets
“Tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, police officers and firefighters may be left without fuel for their vehicles,” said Democrația Acasă faction MP Sergiu Stefanco, a member of the Agriculture and Food Industry Commission. He insists on an urgent state of emergency in the energy sector.
The National Energy Regulatory Agency (ANRE) stated that the hostilities in the Persian Gulf continue to have a significant impact on the prices of crude oil and petroleum products.
The sugar market is not about “sweetness”, but about economy in its purest form: excess supply, rising costs and managerial mistakes are instantly converted into price. That is why there is always a lot of information noise around sugar – slogans “let’s provide the market with our own”, “the market needs protection”, “importers are enemies”. But the noise does not change the main thing: the market does not punish imports – the market punishes inefficiency. And today this is evident all over Europe.
UPDATED. Israel’s massive strikes on 30 Iranian fuel depots “far exceeded” U.S. expectations and provoked a major rift between the allies for the first time since the military operation against Iran began.
The incident with an air strike on Nakhchivan is not related to Iran and will be investigated. This was stated by President of the Islamic Republic of Iran Masoud Pezeshkian during a telephone conversation with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.
Early this Monday morning in Asia, Brent crude was up about 15.5% to $107.16/bbl, while U.S. Nymex Light Sweet crude was up more than 17% to $106.77/bbl.
Iraq’s oil production has fallen sharply amid ongoing conflict with Iran and problems with exports through the Strait of Hormuz.
The first week of March on the grain market of Moldova also brought increase of prices for wheat (plus 0,15-0,20 lei/kg) and corn (plus 0,10 lei/kg on average). The strengthening of prices corresponds to the dynamics of exchange prices for goods of this group in Europe, as well as in the European ports of the Black Sea countries. However, according to market operators, at the moment, the biggest influence on prices is the rise in the price of diesel fuel, i.e. transportation logistics, and a significant strengthening of the dollar against the euro and Moldovan leu.
The escalating conflict in Iran has already caused fuel and energy prices to rise and stock markets to plummet.
Tehran is experiencing a “temporary shortage” of fuel amid U.S.-Israeli airstrikes, according to the governor of Iran’s capital province. Residents have been urged to refrain from unnecessary travel and save fuel.
The current working week ended with “green”, i.e. – growing indicators of futures for the whole grain group of commodities, rapeseed and sugar. Exchange analysts see this as a direct impact of the lack of positive news about the imminent prospects for the winding down of hostilities and the elimination of logistical failures in the Middle East. However, the factor of not very good weather is gradually coming into play.
The goal is to reduce the deficit on the world market by adding “hundreds of millions of barrels” of Russian oil caught in sanctions. The U.S. stresses that this is not an easing of sanctions pressure on Russia, but a measure to stabilize prices. Washington is also considering further lifting of sanctions on other Russian oil to increase supply.
Moldova received Latvian drones, the manufacturer of which had previously failed to fulfill a contract with a Ukrainian foundation.
The analysts compared the military capabilities of Israel and Iran in terms of manpower, air force, land systems, naval resources, defense spending and population.
French President Emmanuel Macron has just delivered what may be Europe’s most significant security speech since the end of the Cold War. Drawing on lessons from the long cycle of conflict that began four years ago in Ukraine, Macron announced sweeping changes to France’s nuclear doctrine and unveiled a new framework for nuclear cooperation with key European allies.
Moldova ranked 128th in the world (out of 193) in the soft power ranking, with 31 points.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is “at war” amid Iranian attacks but will come out of this situation stronger than before, UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan has said. Abu Dhabi TV and Emirates News Agency quoted excerpts from the president’s first statement since the start of hostilities.
Poland’s central bank governor has unveiled a proposal to raise up to 48 billion zloty ($13 billion) from the sale of gold reserves to finance defense spending as part of a plan backed by the country’s president.
US President Donald Trump said today that Iran could be hit “very hard” and the list of potential targets for attacks could be expanded.
The first signs of gas supply problems have appeared in Europe: Transnistria, which broke away from Moldova, warns of gas shortages. The situation is likely to deteriorate further if LNG supplies from the Middle East are not resumed soon, which is an extremely unlikely scenario at the moment.
