Metals Minute 73: Russian War Impacting America

We have new developments in the Russia-Ukraine conflict and continuing fallout here in the United States, impacting the precious metals sphere as we prepare to head into the weekend. We will keep you posted on any new developments that happen before Monday.

In a possible escalation, we have accusations by Ukraine that Russia launched an airstrike on Belarus, which may draw other nations into the conflict; no word yet from Russia’s point of view.

The UN reports global food prices are expected to climb an additional 22% in response to the conflict, as 10% of the world’s calories come from Russia and Ukraine.

And as we mentioned in a prior Metals Minute, the harm from sanctioning Russia will also be felt worldwide. So far, U.S. Investment firm Blackrock is discovering $22 billion of losses related to Russian securities. The overall impact from the sanctions will take a while to realize fully, but it is already looking dire.

American companies that are pulling out of Russia are often ceding past efforts and future profits to Chinese firms stepping in to reap the rewards. Impacting American 401k returns negatively speaks to the importance of owning precious metals with no counterparty risks.