The WTI barrel, which is the reference crude for Ecuador, has risen more than $6. Other raw materials and mining products are also on the rise.
This February 24, 2022, with the news of the Russian invasion of Ukrainethe price of a barrel of WTI crude oilwhich serves as a reference for Ecuador, is quoted between $98.80 and $99.10 at the beginning of the day in the Western Hemisphere.
In other words, the conflict is pushing the Petroleum to reach and surpass the barrier of $100 per barrel.
This, although it may seem the opposite, is not necessarily only good news for the Ecuadorian fiscal box. On the one hand, it is true that the incomebut on the other hand, expenses such as fuel subsidies are also skyrocketing.
everything gets expensive
For his part, the Petroleum Brent, which is the reference in Europe and Asia, exceeded $100 dollars per barrel for the first time since 2014, while gas prices in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands increased between 30% and 40% and wheat futures in Chicago peaked at nine and a half years.
Russia supplies 10% of the world’s oil, a third of Europe’s gas and, together with Ukrainerepresents 29% of world exports of wheat and 80% of sunflower oil and 19% of corn exports.
Russia It is also a major producer of aluminum, nickel, platinum, palladium, uranium, titanium, coal, wood, and fertilizers. This means that the war will further increase the cost of agricultural inputs, construction materials, among others.
The country supplies significant volumes of gas to Europe through Ukrainemainly to countries such as Austria, Italy and Slovakia, as well as to Germany and Poland, although the latter obtain most of the Russian gas through other routes.
Russia launched an invasion of Ukraine by land, air and sea on Thursday, the largest state-on-state attack in Europe since World War II.
The state gas pipeline monopoly RussiaGazprom assured that supplies through Ukraine were normal, while Ukrainian authorities said that its energy infrastructure has not been damaged. Austria also said it was receiving normal gas deliveries.
At least 10 oil traders with Western oil majors and brokerages said there had been no disruption to Russian oil flows, including through the Black Sea.
RussiaKazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan send between 2 and 3 million barrels per day or between 2% and 3% of world supplies to markets through the Black Sea.
Turkey, a member of the western NATO military alliance, has control over the Bosporus that connects the Black and Mediterranean seas.
On February 24, 2022, the movement of ships in the Sea of Azov was suspended, although the Black Sea ports, which account for the bulk of grain and oilseed exports, remained open.
Concerns about aluminum supplies from Russia have propelled aluminum to a record $3,449 a tonne, a 21% gain so far this year.
Russiathe world’s largest aluminum producer outside of China, produced 3.8 million tonnes of aluminum in 2021, about 6% of estimated global production.
Chicago corn futures also climbed to their daily trading limit of 35 cents a pound at $7.16-1/4 a bushel, the highest level since June 2021.
The end result is more inflation in the Ecuadorian economy, and less purchasing power of the diminishing salaries of national workers. (JS)
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