20231018

India Extends Sugar Export Curbs in Risk to Global Supply

India, the world’s second-biggest sugar producer, extended its export restrictions in a renewed bid to protect domestic supplies, a move that’s likely to tighten the global market and raise costs for the food industry.

The government will continue its curbs on overseas shipments of the sweetener beyond Oct. 31, according to a notice from the Directorate General of Foreign Trade on Wednesday, confirming a Bloomberg News report last week.

The restriction doesn’t apply to sugar being exported to the European Union and the US under some quota systems, according to the notice.

EK: India in control of many things including the supply and demand in sugar.

Driving in Singapore Now Costs $115,000 Before Even Buying a Car

Singapore’s cost of car ownership broke another record as right-to-own premiums rose to S$158,004 ($115,000) in October’s second round of bidding.

Certificate of entitlement bids hit new highs across all major auto categories, according to data released from the Land Transport Authority. COEs for large cars, covered in categories B and E, have now established records in six straight rounds of bidding dating back to August.

EK: Car ownership as a status.

Climate Change Is Driving a Global Water Trade You Can’t See

Every manifestation of the ­dangerous weather wreaking havoc around the world has one thing in common: water. As the Earth’s climate changes, the lack of water, or its sudden abundance, is reshaping the global economy and international trade. From prolonged drought slowing down ships in the Panama Canal to deluges halting industrial production in Japan, it’s one of the most obvious ways that rising temperatures are affect­ing businesses.

Increasingly acute scarcity has forced cities, countries and companies to purchase much more water from farther-away places than ­before. Water deliveries are a growing industry, and not just in places with unreliable freshwater supplies.

Trading of water through goods doubled from 1986 to 2007 as the global population rose and international shipping became more sophisticated. These trends — together with an increase of gross domestic product in some of the world’s largest economies — will continue through the century, according to a September paper on the future of virtual water ­trading by scientists at the University of Maryland.

Agriculture makes up 80% to 90% of humanity’s total water consumption, so most efforts to understand virtual water trading have focused on food. But there’s growing interest in examining how much water goes into all the other products humans buy and sell.

Another water-intensive raw material is copper. The metal is used to make electric vehicles and cables used to transport clean energy — two products that are set to see soaring demand as the world accelerates its green transition.

EK: Water as a resource and a good.