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Global Food Inflation Gets Reprieve as Wheat and Oilseeds Tumble

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Agricultural commodities fell, offering some reprieve to rampant food inflation, as traders weigh incoming data on harvests and looming recessions in some major economies.

Wheat harvests are kicking off across the Northern Hemisphere, with analysts continuing to increase production estimates for some key growers like Russia after favorable weather. The US will give an update on its winter-wheat harvest progress later on Tuesday.

The prospect of recessions is also weighing on commodity prices, according to analyst Agritel. Subdued economies can mean lower fuel use or spur shoppers to cut back on higher-priced foods like meat. Chicago soybean oil is headed for its longest retreat since 2019, Paris rapeseed erased its year-to-date gain and Malaysian palm oil recently entered a bear market as rival producer Indonesia ramps up exports.



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Biden Takes Swing at Inflation, Signs Law to Cut Shipping Rates

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“One of the factors affecting prices is this: nine major shipping companies consolidated into three alliances controlling the vast majority, mostly shipping in the world,” Biden said.

“And each of these nine is foreign-owned. During the pandemic, these carriers increased their prices by as much as 1,000%.”

Attempts to “demonize ocean carriers” are not only inaccurate but dangerous because they undermine the ability to understand the root of US supply-chain problems, the World Shipping Council said in a statement.

“As long as America’s ports, rail yards and warehouses remain overloaded and unable to cope with the increased trade levels, vessels will remain stuck outside ports to the detriment of importers as well as exporters,” the WSC said. “Ocean carriers continue to move record volumes of cargo for our country and have invested heavily in new capacity – America needs to make the same commitment and invest in its land-side logistics infrastructure.”



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Traders Bet Dovish Bank of Japan to Capitulate After Swiss Shock

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A Small BOJ Policy Change Should Have a Large Ripple Effect While Japan’s policy makers are expected to continue with monetary easing, there’s growing speculation in global markets about the potential for a shock decision. The BOJ has been keeping a lid on government bond yields since 2016 and defending that cap vigorously in recent days, but pressure is building to either alter its policy stance or give guidance on when that will end after the Federal Reserve’s biggest interest-rate hike since 1994. The yen rallied as much as 1.1% Thursday.

“As the BOJ is now the last central bank standing as regards easy policy, it’s unsurprising that bets against the BOJ are building,” according to Jeremy Stretch, head of G-10 foreign-exchange strategy at CIBC. While Stretch expects the central bank to stick with its current policy, “any suggestion of an adjustment to the YCC threshold would result in a material bounce in JPY valuations,” he wrote, referring to yield-curve control, in a note published Thursday.



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Fed Hikes Rates 75 Basis Points, Intensifying Inflation Fight

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Federal Reserve officials raised their main interest rate by three-quarters of a percentage point -- the biggest increase since 1994 -- and signaled they will keep hiking aggressively this year, resorting to drastic measures to restrain the rampant inflation they failed to forecast.

Slammed by critics for not anticipating the fastest price gains in four decades and then for being too slow to respond to it, Chairman Jerome Powell and colleagues on Wednesday intensified their effort to cool prices by lifting the target range for the federal funds rate to 1.5% to 1.75%.

They projected raising it to 3.4% by year-end, implying another 175 basis points of tightening this year.

The median official saw a peak rate of 3.8% in 2023, and five officials forecast a federal funds rate above 4%; the median projection in March was for 1.9% this year and 2.8% next. Traders in futures markets were betting on a peak rate of about 4% ahead of the release.

The Fed reiterated it will shrink its massive balance sheet by $47.5 billion a month -- a move that took effect June 1 -- stepping up to $95 billion in September.



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US Natural Gas Slumps as LNG Plant Shutdown Strands Supplies

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US natural gas futures plummeted and European prices surged after the operator of a key Texas export terminal said it may take three months to partially restart the facility following a fire last week. 

Gas for next-month delivery in New York tumbled as much as 19% to $7.008 per million British thermal units as the shutdown threatens to leave supply stranded in US shale basins. European futures on the Title Transfer facility hub in Amsterdam jumped 18% to $30.14.



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Shipping's $500 Billion Profit Can Take on Amazon

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Besides splurging on dividends and share repurchases, the once-scarcely profitable container lines are planning to use this once-in-a-lifetime haul for acquisitions and investments. Some aim to turn themselves into end-to-end logistics giants, in the vein of Amazon.com Inc. or FedEx Corp.

In theory, this should make them more resilient when shipping freight rates normalize, which is bound to happen one day. Shipping costs have already come down a bit, but due, in part, to the spread of omicron in China, some industry observers now don’t expect port congestion to ease until next year. 

Of course, the big risk is these hungry hippos waste their epic windfall on empire building, and an industry that’s already on the defensive due to its inflation-stoking profiteering may end up stoking an even greater political backlash.

It’s a sign of how the ambitions of the shipping industry have been transformed that a container liner joining forces with an airline no longer seems unusual: Mediterranean Shipping Co. is angling to acquire a controlling stake in Italian flag carrier ITA Airways, while the billionaire principal shareholder of Germany’s Hapag Lloyd, Klaus-Micheal Kuehne, has built a 10% stake in Lufthansa AG. In addition to expanding its own air-cargo fleet, Maersk agreed to acquire air-freight forwarding specialist Senator International in November.



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US Set to Block Russian Debt Payments, Raising Default Odds

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Russia has started the process of paying holders of two foreign-currency bonds before a key carveout in restrictions expires next week.

The money isn’t due for another week, but the settlement date for both payments is two days after a temporary exemption for US bondholders to receive Russian bond funds is set to end. 

That loophole has allowed the government to get payments through the plumbing of the international financial system to US investors, staving off a foreign default. But Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen characterized the carve-out as “time-limited” last week.

Payments of $71.25 million on a note maturing 2026, and 26.5 million euros ($28 million) on debt due 2036, were transferred to the National Settlement Depository, or NSD, Russia’s Finance Ministry said Friday. It added that its obligations on the debt have been met “in full.” 

Previous fund transfers have been delayed or blocked by financial institutions amid the sweeping international sanctions imposed on Russia since its invasion of Ukraine. About $650 million of payments were made just days before a grace period was due to expire earlier this month.

Russia Dodges Default for Now as Investors Get Dollar Funds

From the NSD, the payments go to international clearinghouses, which distribute the funds to the various custodian banks where foreign bondholders have their accounts.

If that all goes smoothly, attention will turn to almost $400 million of coupons due toward the end of June. 

Without the Treasury loophole for US investors, and no alternative options arranged, the question will be whether bondholders elsewhere can still receive the funds. 

The first two coupons due June 23 have clauses that allow payment in euros, pounds sterling or Swiss francs. Their terms also stipulate that the funds will land with the local paying agent, the NSD.  

One day later, $159 million comes due that can only be paid in dollars, via a unit of JPMorgan as foreign paying agent.     



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Email of the day on global food shortages

The media highlight the possibility / likelihood of a worldwide food shortage - could you please cover this subject and share with us your conclusion and how a smart investor could potentially take advantage of such regrettable drama for large parts of the world population.



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Norway Targets Record Gas Sales This Year as Europe Shuns Russia

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Norwegian gas sales are on course to test a record high this year as Europe seeks to reduce its dependence on top supplier Russia as soon as possible. 

Total exports from fields in the Nordic nation are poised to jump about 8% this year to 122 billion cubic meters, the government said in its updated outlook on Wednesday. The country sold similar volumes in 2017, a record year for exports.

The continent’s second-biggest supplier is pumping at full tilt, benefiting from record prices and higher demand than ever for its fuel. The European Union aims to curb imports from Russia by two thirds this year because of the war in Ukraine.

European prices spiked after Russia’s invasion in late February, deepening an energy crisis that started last year. Costs have since eased but they remain historically high and traders remain on the edge because of the uncertainty of flows and payment regimes. 

“High prices give the companies strong incentives to utilize the production capacity on the fields,” Petroleum and Energy Minister Terje Aasland said. “Companies are producing at full, or near full capacity.” 

Norwegian producers have tweaked operations at some fields, including reducing gas injections for oil recovery. Energy major Equinor ASA will also restart its Hammerfest LNG plant this month. The facility has been shut after a fire in late 2020.  

The extra volume would amount to an increase of about 9 billion cubic meters this year compared with 2021 sales. While every molecule counts, it’s just a fraction of Russia’s flows to the European Union, which exceeded 155 billion cubic meters last year. That was about 40% of the bloc’s total consumption. 



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Oil Climbs as Global Refining Crunch Drives Record Fuel Cost

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Oil climbed as a global squeeze on refined products continued to pull fuel prices higher with Russian diesel exports falling sharply.  

West Texas Intermediate traded near $110 wrapping up another week of tumultuous trading where lowered liquidity exacerbated price moves. Diesel exports from Russia dropped in April from their prewar level as oil buyers seek to punish one of the world’s biggest suppliers. Investors have also been keeping a close eye on China as authorities in Beijing denied rumors that the city will go into lockdown even as new Covid-19 cases climbed.

Fuels are currently the bullish driver for crude, especially as Russian diesel exports drop, said Dennis Kissler, Senior Vice President of Trading, BOK Financial. “The path of least resistance still looks higher for all petroleum products as demand continues to outstrip supplies.”



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