Governments starting to ban/control/curtail exports…

squidvicious - March 6, 2022

No link to sources, you can search and find numerous articles.  Many countries are taking steps to curtail (not always outright ban) exports of certain raw materials including food products.  A few observations based on my extremely limited knowlegdge of all these things, but coupled with some other bits of things read/heard over the past few months…

1. the items included in the export bans range from basic resources (e.g. grain) to other more perishable good (e.g. eggs, butter, vegetable oil, onions).  So… this doesn’t seem to be just a freeze on basic commodities but on value added products as well.

2. the export bans seem to be from smaller countries (e.g. Syria, Bulgaria, Romania); I don’t know if they are net importers of basic necessities but it would seem logical for such places to secure their food security.

3. News from Dec 2021 — the supply chain problems were predicted to remain until late 2022, and that was only when things were anticipated to START getting better.  That was obviously before Ru/Uk conflict so…

4. Other commodities (timber, bauxite, palm oil) appear in searches on export adjustments… these could be related to normal trade fluctuations, supply chain issues, Ru/Uk conflict, or just the advancement of the country’s economy such that they want to reserve those things for their own industries.  However, have seen multiple reports on timber exports from Ru being impacted now.  point being, all of these things can lead to higher prices for lots of things…on top of what was already occuring due to COVID/supply chain issues.

5. Uk is a top 10 world producer of a lot of things — mostly raw materials (e.g. wheat, titanium).  

Walking through the grocery at the start of COVID, I was sort of surprised to see empty shelves.  Even as I understood why it was so, it simply had never happened in my lifetime here — the only thing stores ran out of were toys during the holiday rush (e.g. Cabbage Patch dolls?).   I don’t think anyone will starve, but I’m preparing for some shortages now too.