The government has created a “task force” to manage the consequences of future shortages.
Since the beginning of March, the Michelin factory in Cholet has suspended production for eight days. At issue: the disruption of the supply of carbon black, an essential form of carbon in the production of tires, which can no longer come from Russia and Ukraine. This is one of the first concrete consequences of the Russian attack on Ukraine. There are likely to be others. Russia and Ukraine, to a lesser extent, are commodity giants. It is known for gas or oil. But this also applies to critical metals.
Read alsoWar in Ukraine: aluminum Europe very dependent on the factory of a Russian group in Ireland
Russia produces 50% of the palladium in the world, 25% of titanium, 15% of platinoids, 6% of steel. The country is also the second world producer of aluminum and the third of nickel. For its part, Ukraine is a leading player in gases, particularly neon (70% market share worldwide), krypton (40%) and xenon (30%). These materials are used in the composition of many products. The titanium…