BY MAY 25 2022, PUBLISHED 9:10 A.M. ETS
“Shortages of industrial and daily use grocery products have become a part of life amid the global supply chain crisis. Urea and DEF (diesel exhaust fluid) have also joined the list of products many are finding hard to buy. Why is there a shortage of DEF and urea? ***Urea accounts for almost a third of the DEF solution, while the remaining two-thirds is de-ionized water. DEF is used in diesel vehiclesthat were produced after 2010. A vehicle’s DEF usage depends on its mileage and the number of miles drive.”
This post is not for the faint of heart or the weak in spirit as I address the negative impacts of shortages in gas/oil and fertilizer. And if you think I am being histrionic, then do not look at your retirement accounts today.
With worldwide shortages coming to the forefront every day, there are causes and effects on our daily lives that are raging rhinos headed at us from many directions.
Let us take fertilizer as an example. The two largest fertilizer companies are Mosaic (MOS) and Nutrient (NTR). MOS was the result of the top two fertilizer companies merging. I researched fertilizer and found how important natural gas was in making anhydrous ammonia, etc., in making fertilizer components. Connecting the dots to food production was easy.
But it is more than straight-line dots, but ripples spreading out. Here is a story on DEF that came to my attention. I knew about the Union Pacific playing games with transportation. Now I know there is more to the story.
With globalization and playing games with the invisible hand of capitalism, the supply chains are now breaking and the dangers of centralization reveal the darkness of monopolization lurking in the background. Adam Smith nailed this observation in his Wealth of Nations, but we are so much “smarter” than those timeless truths and observations (not).
The United States was importing all its urea. Urea is critical to the making of DEF. Without DEF diesel trucks do not run., When diesel trucks do not run, goods are not moved. And there you have supply chain problems.
And now we have to ramp up urea production which will be dependent upon natural gas and chemical companies. Look up the stock symbol CEF.
No fertilizer. No transportation. Just two of the problems from Biden’s war on energy is war on America. What other harms is his administration inflicting on the American public that are not be freely reported?
Shortages of fertilizer will cause food shortages. And world food shortages of course are hurt by the loss of wheat production etc from Ukraine. And the exports of what they do produce will drop because their ports are blocked and people are starving.
And the food production increases the need for efficiency in pest and disease control in the fields which will cause a shortage too.
And now, I just heard that Smithfield is closing down its Vernon, California meat plant. Largest pork company in the US and owned by China to boot. And if it is China who is attacking us again, why are we wasting time on Jan. 6 hearings. And if it less hog and pork to process, then how much has then been impeded by grain and soybean production.