Even without the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, Germany is dependent upon Russia for 50 percent of its energy supplies. This is not the case for the U.S. Although Bloomberg’s Javier Blas makes the point that commodity trade with Russia will continue, it has been a very lopsided exchange for Americans. The overall trade balance between Russia and the U.S. has steadily grown in Moscow’s favor.
The same can be said of agricultural trade, where Russia has periodically banned U.S. products like poultry meat for being too competitive against Russian farmers. The result is a growing imbalance in the trading relationship. The U.S. would not suffer if it halted imports of Russian vodka and sunflower seeds.
Meanwhile, Russia has intentiona...
Russian Grain Markets: 29 June-3 July 2026 The new marketing season has officially begun in Russia, although bearish sentiment has been concentrated in the southern regions closest to the Black Sea ports, where export demand has been weakest. Delays in grain deliveries to inland elevators have...
What You Need to Know Today: The hot, dry weather forecast continues to drive strength in grain futures with corn and soybeans hitting another day of strong gains. Monday’s Crop Progress and Conditions data were in line with market expectations and showed relatively few concerns for the...
Yesterday we wrote about the Q1 GDP numbers and the June employment reports in an article entitled Real GDP for Q1 Relying on AI Buildout, Held Back by Consumer Spending. That article mentioned that consumer spending had become a drag on GDP. Nonetheless, real GDP in Q1 was revised upward to 2...
