The announcements from the European Union and the US are another dramatic escalation in a conflict that’s roiling raw materials through supply snarl-ups and the prospect of profound shifts in the geopolitical landscape. Oil breached US$100 a barrel last week, aluminum hit a record high, and grain prices surged.
Commodities are heading for a manic start to the week as investors scramble to assess how the West’s latest sanctions on Russia – and an intensifying war in Ukraine – will affect flows of energy, metals and crops.
Western nations agreed to sweeping new curbs that will penalize Russia’s central bank and exclude some others from the SWIFT messaging system, used for trillions of dollars worth of transactions around the world. One White House official said the administration is looking to exempt energy sector transactions from the latter measure.
