#supply chains

The conflict in Iran is disrupting fertiliser production and exports in the Middle East, tightening global supplies and raising fears of higher food prices, industry executives and analysts have warned. The Middle East is one of the world’s largest fertiliser producers, while the Strait of Hormuz is a crucial shipping route for exports. About 35 per cent of global urea exports pass through the waterway, according to CRU data. Urea is the most widely used nitrogen fertiliser, which in turn underpins around half of global food production. The route also handles 45 per cent of global sulphur exports, a key ingredient used to produce phosphate fertilisers, as well as significant volumes of ammonia, a key ingredient for nitrogen fertilisers. “We shouldn’t underestimate what this potentially could mean for global food production,” said Svein Tore Holsether, chief executive of Europe’s largest fertiliser group Yara. He added that the focus on oil and gas was “overshadowing” the impact on the fertiliser industry. “If you’re not getting [fertiliser] into the field of the farmers, yields could go down by up to 50 per cent in the first harvest,” he said. If the disruption continues, consumers could see higher prices for bread within six to 10 weeks, eggs within a few months and pork and broiler chicken within six months, estimates Raj Patel, food system expert at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs. 

AI Is Not the First "Unethical" Technology

One argument that frequently appears in AI discourse is that people refuse to use AI because it is "unethical."

There is nothing wrong with choosing not to use a technology.

However, if we are going to discuss ethics, then we should apply the same standards consistently.

Ooo okay! One of the things I was rly interested in and never got very far with was medical supply chains - I was surprised how difficult it was to understand or visualize their economic geography compared to other industrial supply chains. I was reading a lot about rare earth minerals and a lot about the garment/textile industry, but medical supply chains are just... a lot more opaque? When I was looking for books about healthcare supply chains, I kept finding things like 'how to apply blockchain to your healthcare supply chain management.' Not rly the nuts and bolts! I want to see how the sausage gets made! So to speak.

When I first began my career as a floor trader, one of the critical data points the market always watched (and reacted to) was the weekly report on boxcar loadings. It was taken as an indicator of economic health and future activity.

Today's world has its own similar 'tell-tale' (as sailors would call it) -- the number of cargo ships arriving on the US west coast from China.

...has raised questions. This week saw one of Ireland’s main carrot producers go into administration, blaming a combination of rising costs and worsening growing conditions thanks to “relentless rain” for its demise. Hughes Farming in Kells, Co Kilkenny is reportedly responsible for 12% of Ireland’s carrot production but the company going under has raised questions over not just the future for its approximately 40 workers, but also whether the crop’s growers may also be in danger. According to a number of vegetable growers who spoke to The Journal in the wake of Hughes Farm’s collapse, the case is a reminder of the pressures facing the sector. Others in the broader sector said it was also a sign they had seen in recent months of how the weather was putting pressure on supply of fresh produce, with retailers further up the chain seeing 50% prices increases for some goods put down to the rain. These pressures are only expected to grow given the developing war in the Gulf and the chokehold that is exerting on key elements such as fertilizer. John Dockrell, a carrot farmer for more than 30 years in Monroe, Co Wexford, said the “key” pressure facing growers is the price they’re getting paid for their crops. Added to this has been climate change as a factor resulting in “extraordinary increases” for maintaining crops, which Dockrell said has particularly impacted affected field vegetables, including parsnips and celery. “About 20 years ago the price was €1.30 or 1.50 and here today carrots are €1.29 today, so the price has dropped effectively,” Dockrell told The Journal. To keep up with inflation the price “should be €1.90″, the farmer added. “If the market functioned properly, then that’s where the price really should be and that’s why we’re suffering.”

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