Grain price at record level: Ukraine conflict causes chaos on the commodity markets

In Germany, many people are trembling because of the rising gas prices and the prospect that Russia could turn off the tap completely.

In Lebanon, people are more concerned that the supply of bread grain could dry up.

Beverage can makers and car makers are concerned about the high prices for aluminum and palladium.

Russia's attack on Ukraine affects many markets.

Russia is one of the largest producers and exporters of natural gas and oil.

The price of oil has been rising for weeks and has meanwhile passed the $100 mark per barrel again – for the first time since autumn 2014. Analyst Carsten Fritsch from Commerzbank explains: “If Russian oil deliveries fail, the other producing countries can only do so to a limited extent equalize."

Russia has been the world's largest exporter of wheat since 2018, and Ukraine is on course for number three.

In between is the United States.

The price shot up to a new record high of 344 euros per ton in European trading on Thursday.

When it comes to corn, Ukraine is the fourth largest exporter in the world.

Because the Ukrainian ports are closed, no grain can leave the country.

According to the company Ukr-AgroConsult, 500,000 tons of wheat and 1.7 million tons of corn are currently stored in the country.

Which countries would hit the bottlenecks

Countries in the Middle East such as Egypt or Lebanon and in Africa are particularly dependent on grain deliveries from Russia and the Ukraine.

In Lebanon, about half of the wheat consumed in the country comes from Russia and Ukraine, says Christiane Lambert, chairwoman of the European farmers' association Copa-Cogeca in Brussels.

“This means that for some countries the price increases will be more dramatic than for us.

There will be shortages.”

According to market research company Agritel, the risk of sunflower oil shortages is even greater.

Ukraine is the world's largest producer and world's largest exporter.

"The situation on the market for vegetable oils is very tight," reports Sébastien Poncelet from Agritel.

"There are little stocks of soybean oil from Latin America and palm oil from Indonesia and Malaysia - at the same time demand is very high."

Capital Economics experts warn that Russia could cut supplies of key metals aluminium, nickel and palladium as a countermeasure to Western sanctions.

The Russian group Rusal, for example, is the world's second-largest producer of aluminum - the price for it hit an all-time high of $3,382.50 (3,013 euros) per tonne in London on Thursday morning.

When it comes to nickel, the Nornickel Norilsk group has the upper hand.

Russia was the third largest nickel producer in 2019 after Indonesia and the Philippines, and the country ranks second for refined nickel.

The metal is mainly used for stainless steel and in many goods such as coins, batteries or for coating glass.

Currently, the metal is mainly used for the production of batteries for electric cars.

Here, too, the price is at record highs.

Palladium is also needed primarily in the automotive industry - the metal is in catalytic converters.

Russia controls 50 percent of the world market.

Finally, aircraft construction uses a lot of titanium, a light and strong material.

The Russian group VSMPO-Avisma, founded in 1941 in the Urals, is the world's largest supplier to the industry, according to the French engine manufacturer Safran.