According to Reuters, the war in Ukraine has boosted world prices for cereals, cooking oils, fuels and fertilizers, and Guterres has warned that this will exacerbate food, energy and economic crises in poorer countries. p>
Ukraine, a major producer of agricultural products, used to export most of its products through seaports, but after the Russian invasion on February 24, it was forced to export them by train across its western border or through the small Danube ports. After visiting Moscow and Kyiv late last month, Mr Guterres pledged to help bring Ukraine 's agricultural production back to Russia and Belarus producing food and fertilizer despite the war.
The UN secretary-general is expected to discuss his efforts at a ministerial meeting on “Global Call to Action for Food Security” hosted by US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken at UN headquarters in New York later Wednesday. Blinken will also chair a meeting of the Security Council on Conflict and Food Security on Thursday.
US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield has blamed Russia's war in Ukraine (which Moscow calls a “special military operation”) for worsening global food insecurity.
“The blockade of ports that do not allow food and grain to leave Ukraine, their efforts to prevent farmers from sowing their fields, their attacks on food warehouses, have all exacerbated an already dire situation,” said Thomas-Greenfield. at a UNICEF event on Tuesday.
The United States supports Guterres' efforts to restart Ukrainian grain exports, she said Monday. Russia and Ukraine together account for nearly a third of world wheat supplies. Ukraine is also a major exporter of corn, barley, sunflower and rapeseed oil, while Russia and Belarus, which supported Moscow in the Ukraine war, account for more than 40% of world exports of potassium. >
Guterres said 36 countries depended on Russia and Ukraine for more than half of their wheat imports, including some of the world's poorest and most vulnerable countries, such as Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, Somalia and the People's Republic. Congo.
Japan to auction 750,000kg of oil from its reserves
Japan's Ministry of Industry announced on Wednesday that it will hold an auction on June 10 for to sell 750,000 kiloliters or 4.72 million barrels of oil from its national reserves. The move is being coordinated by the International Energy Agency, in a bid to reduce prices.
Bidders will receive the oil on July 20 or later, the ministry said in a statement.
According to Bloomberg, fossil fuel prices are still on the rise. Today, crude WTI is close to $ 114 a barrel, Brent is close to $ 113 a barrel, and gas trades at $ 8.26 per million BTU.
