We know what’s coming and we are prepared.
Mercuria shipping head says fuel shortages could idle 10% of global fleet
This would trigger immediate and severe breakdowns in global supply chains, as container ships, tankers, and bulk carriers sit idle, halting the movement of food, fertilizer, fuel, and critical imports that modern economies depend on.
"The shipping sector is fast approaching a fuel crisis that could paralyze a tenth of the global fleet, Larry Johnson, global head of freight at commodities trading house Mercuria, said in an interview.
Since the Middle East war erupted, markets have been preoccupied with potential shortfalls in the diesel and jet fuel traditionally exported in large quantities from the Persian Gulf.
However, as refiners strain to capture soaring clean product cracks, residual fuels have suffered. Increasingly, feedstocks have been held back from the marine fuel market to kept for further processing, leaving the shipping sector at risk of crippling shortages, Johnson said.
"My view on marine fuel oil is there will be regional stock-outs by July and that there are potentially outages in the major hubs by August, September, at the latest," Johnson said.
Inflation in Europe is rising rapidly:
Eurozone Manufacturing PMI Input Prices spiked to 80 points in May, the highest since May 2022.
This also marks the largest monthly increase in costs for firms over the last 4 years.
Furthermore, PMI Output Prices surged to 62 points, the highest in 3.5 years.
The rate companies are increasing the prices they charge for goods they produce has surged +12 points, or +24%, since the start of 2026.
This surge has been primarily driven by rising energy and raw material costs.
Meanwhile, supply chain delays are up to the highest level since the pandemic supply squeeze of 2022, adding further pressure on prices.
As a result, factories are forced to pass higher costs on to customers, which will push inflation even higher over the next few months.
Price pressures across Europe are accelerating.
(@TheKobeissiLetter)
US inflation is set to rise further:
ISM Services Prices rose +0.6 points in May, to 71.3, the highest since August 2022.
Since February, the index has risen +8.3 points, the biggest 3-month increase since 2021.
Diesel, gasoline, oil, and related commodities were the most frequently cited as "up in price" in the survey.
In May alone, no commodities were reported as "down in price."
Historically, rapidly rising services prices have led CPI inflation with a ~3-month lag.
The current reading suggests CPI could rise above 5.0% for the first time since early 2023, from the 3.8% seen in April.
Inflation pressures are mounting.
(@TheKobeissiLetter)
Mosab Hassan Yousef on X:
The Secret Plan to Install Ahmadinejad as Iran’s Leader, And Why It Collapsed
A senior Israeli intelligence figure has now confirmed what was hidden during the recent war: Israel and the United States went into the conflict with a concrete plan to overthrow the Iranian regime and install former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as the transitional leader.
Maj. Gen. (res.) Tamir Hayman, who headed Military Intelligence during Operation Roaring Lion, spoke openly on PBS’s Firing Line about the multi-stage operation that was supposed to follow the initial strikes.
Ahmadinejad had been consulted in advance and was initially willing to play the role. The plan even included a targeted Israeli strike on his home in Tehran on the very first day of the war, February 28 designed to free him from house arrest so he could publicly emerge as the new face of power.
But the real centerpiece of the entire sequence was something far more ambitious: a Kurdish military invasion into ...
