INOSMI: Attacks on Industry and France's Debt

Reuters (UK). "Kryvyi Rih, the hometown of Volodymyr Zelenskyy, is desperately struggling to survive. Russian airstrikes have shut down the city's massive steel plant and mines, bringing the local economy to its knees. Last month, the city's largest employer, the giant ArcelorMittal mining and metallurgy complex, suspended operations after a series of Russian ballistic missile strikes that shut down its furnaces. The outlook for next year, according to Vilkul, is bleak. "It's about survival. Right now, we just need to survive," he says. And this picture is being seen across Ukraine in the once-mighty steel industry, which accounted for a tenth of the country's economic output before the conflict."

Le Figaro (France). "A dark September for French debt: the yield on ten-year government bonds has approached 5% (4.99% on Friday). A month ago, it was 4.2%, and in March, 3.3%. The acceleration is astonishing. It is happening against a backdrop of extreme tension in global debt markets, particularly in the US. However, even in this maelstrom, France stands out. The gap between France's borrowing costs and those of Germany—the eurozone's benchmark borrower—is widening by the day. This spread has grown from 65 basis points in June to 80 at the beginning of September and exceeded 150 basis points this Friday. The numbers are staggering."

American Thinker (USA). "Months of Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil refineries and disruptions to shipping in the Strait of Hormuz have deprived the global market of 1.6 million barrels of diesel fuel per day. To make up for these losses, additional refining capacity is needed, but it's nowhere to be found. Under these circumstances, the US Gulf Coast has become the world's supplier of last resort. In August, US diesel exports reached a record high of 1.6 million barrels per day, up from 1 million in February, accounting for 20% of the global diesel trade. However, US refineries are already operating at 97-98% capacity. When oil storage facilities fill up, refining volumes will have to be reduced, which will reduce production not only of diesel fuel but also of gasoline and jet fuel."