March 7

3/7 – It’s been a week in commodities like few in history. And even though we were sounding the alarm on crude oil, veg-oils, and wheat since January – actually seeing it unfold was a little frightening. With Russia close to sealing off Ukraine’s southern coast and ports – and with OPEC well behind their targeted oil production targets – prices for the 3 (above mentioned) commodities exploded last week. WTI crude oil, which averaged $68.06 per barrel last year and $39.54 in 2020, shot to 14-year highs of $115.68 on Friday. Soy-oil, which averaged just under $.32/lb from 2014-2020 before jumping to $58.15 in 2021, hit an all-time record of $.7954 on Wednesday, then closed at $.7680 on Friday. Chicago (CME) wheat futures hit a record high of $13.48 per bushel on Friday. Wheat had averaged $4.86 for 2015-2020 before averaging $7.02 for the year in 2020.