Good morning. Here’s your Daily Situational Awareness for Wednesday, 02 March 2022. You can receive this daily briefing by signing up at https://forwardobserver.com/daily-sa
TODAY’S BRIEFING:
- American companies cease Russian operations
- China to secure commodities impacted by war in Ukraine
- Grain prices continue spike
- Iranian hackers probing U.S. networks
- Hazards Warning
UPGRADE TO EARLY WARNING AND GET THESE BRIEFINGS:
- Russia-NATO SITREP: UKRAINE ASKS CITIZENS FOR HELP, MOLDOVA IN PLAY, CYBER OPS CONTINUE
- Indo-Pacific SITREP: U.S. INCREASING FOCUS ON POTENTIAL CHINA-TAIWAN CONFLICT
- Far Left Activity Rollup & Outlook
SITUATIONAL AWARENESS
MORE AMERICAN COMPANIES CEASE RUSSIAN OPERATIONS: More large U.S. companies have halted or suspended operations in Russia. Apple, Boeing, and ExxonMobil are stopping sales, investments, maintenance support, and parts supply for critical industry in Russia. The moves come as part of the broader Western nation initiative to restrict Russia’s economy for its invasion of Ukraine. (Analyst Comment: As private industry gets involved with moves to isolate Russia, the concern that Russia will retaliate against domestic industry with proxy groups increases. Cyberattacks via malware is the most likely tool; however, large corporations are likely to have secured their infrastructure to common attack vectors. Subcontractors downline from these critical industries are more likely to be attacked due to limited budgets for cybersecurity. – D.F.)
CHINA MOVES TO SECURE COMMODITIES IMPACTED BY WAR IN UKRAINE: Chinese government officials have ordered the country’s top economic planning body, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), to push state-owned buyers to scour markets for commodities which could become scarce as a result of fighting between Russia and Ukraine. The NDRC is ordering increases in reserves of oil, gas, iron ore, barley, and corn. (AC: China’s actions will likely put pressure on world markets and drive up prices for the selected commodities. Analysts believe China has already stockpiled between 60-70% of the world’s grain reserves. Oil prices in London rose 7.7% on Wednesday, wheat 7.6%, aluminum rose 1.3%, and corn futures climbed 2.9% to their highest since 2012. – M.M.)
GRAIN PRICES CONTINUE SPIKE: Corn, Soybeans, and Wheat futures continue to near or hit daily price increases. The primary driver of price increases is the war in Europe as commodities markets brace for global trade disruptions. Wheat prices are up nearly 32% over the last 12 months alone. Corn prices are likely to spike in early summer, building on a 25% annual increase. China reportedly purchased ten cargoes of U.S. corn, which the US Department of Agriculture will confirm this week. (AC: Food costs are likely to rise as global instability impacts harvests and trading. Availability issues are unlikely at this time, but lower prices may be available at local markets for certain goods. – D.M.)
IRANIAN HACKERS PROBING U.S. NETWORKS: U.S. intelligence agencies are warning that Iranian sponsored hackers are conducting “cyber operations against government and commercial networks.” The operations have been described as probing U.S. telecommunications, defense, local government, and oil and natural gas for vulnerabilities and potential exploitation. The group is known as “MuddyWater” and is known for using open-source tools to gain access to company infrastructure. (AC: Iranian backed hacker groups probing defenses increases the cyber threat landscape risk as cyber officials focus on the Russian threat. U.S. and Iranian relations are already degraded, with nuclear talks seeing limited progress. – D.F.)
HAZARDS WARNING
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