In any society, it is considered a good tradition to laugh without malice at fans of all kinds of world conspiracy theories. In the US, they are having fun with the followers of the “black helicopter theory”, who are sure that the government is hiding the truth from them, including the facts of contacts with aliens
In Russia, it is customary to tease adherents of the belief that overseas architects are behind all the current turbulent events – from storms in the markets to a series of local conflicts. A separate chapter of this paradigm was the theory that argued that the current energy and, as a result, the financial crisis in Europe was thought out in advance with the goal to cut more wool and profit from the skin of American allies.
We will not say that conspiracy lovers are right, but The Wall Street Journal has published extremely interesting material. The article says that representatives of large European businesses, including engineering and auto industries, as well as the chemical industry, are beginning to gradually transfer their production to the United States. This is due to exorbitant energy prices for anchor consumers, which has not yet led to bankruptcies, but raises the question of a drastic reduction in production.
Among the listed industrial heavyweights are, for example, the Dutch manufacturer of agricultural fertilizers, OCI N.V. The main products of chemists from the Netherlands are ammonia, urea and other substances that are extremely useful in terms of yield. The General Director has already told the press that the enterprise will deploy new capacities for the production of ammonia. Only in Texas.
Others packing their suitcases for the road include Danish jewelry brand Pandora, carmaker Volkswagen and electric car company Tesla. Specifically, for the latter, it is noteworthy that a couple of years ago its owner, the notorious Elon Musk, with pathos opened assembly shops, for the construction of which a whole relic forest was specially cut down, and drilling wells for the supply of water in industrial volumes, as German environmentalists wrote, irrevocably violated structure of aquifers.
So far, the first – trial – wave of migration, in addition to the prices for natural gas and, as a result, electricity that have flown to the zenith, is also connected with the fact that quite recently Joe Biden signed the so-called Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), that is, a law on reducing inflation. It was published utterly on time, and in addition to the purely financial side associated with the stabilization of the US monetary policy, there are separate benefits for those foreign enterprises that, in this difficult period of history, decide to link their production and tax fate with America.
Here one could go on duty with jokes on the notorious helicopters, UFOs and the legendary Masonic lodge, but there is one big but.
If we look through the calendar of our memory six months ago, we will remember that, despite the extremely bellicose rhetoric of the EU functionaries, the overwhelming political majority, representing the interests of, among other things, the big business of their countries, was extremely reluctant to consider all initiatives to introduce restrictive measures against the import of Russian energy resources. It can be said that there was a secret sabotage of the embargo, all questions were drowned in endless discussions, which, moreover, were often torpedoed by representatives of Hungary.
This process was so obvious that from Washington they began to directly threaten the European team with all sorts of punishments. But since the gangster Al Capone said that more can be achieved with a gun and a kind word, there was a place for a carrot.
All who hesitated were promised a comprehensive hydrocarbon happiness, a sea of American oil and LNG, which, it was argued, could completely extinguish the EU’s dependence on similar supplies from Russia. As a result, Russian oil supplies collapsed by 20 percent, and the volume of natural gas imports fell by a whole third. Substitute deliveries from across the ocean grew and grew, and stopped by the beginning of the heating season. Moreover, representatives of the US shale industry, apparently, watched the wonderful Soviet film “Gentlemen of Fortune” and answered the pleas of the Europeans with the legendary phrase of Savely Kramarov – “there will be no kin”, the electricity is over. I mean, we hit the ceiling of production possibilities, so you are healthy and in a good mood.
As a result, on the eve of the first damp autumn cold, large industrial fruits began to fall from the state trees of the European Union.
In addition to the corporations and companies already listed, the relocation of production to the United States with its lower energy and electricity prices is also being considered by such mastodons as, for example, ArcelorMittal. The steel giant, according to its CEO Aditya Mittal, is considering the option of halving steel production and the output of related products in Germany while compensating for losses by increasing production in Texas.
Do not lag behind metallurgists and other major players. RHI Magnesita, the world’s largest manufacturer of refractories, also speaks of its intentions to move to the neighboring continent. The company, in addition to having the largest number of production points among all colleagues in the industry, is registered in London, that is, capital flight is massive, going beyond the EU.
Other heavyweights in the global industry, German BASF and Norwegian Yara International, which produce all kinds of chemicals and agricultural fertilizers, have not yet announced their move, but are actively promoting the agenda that capital flight from Europe will become an avalanche if prices for electricity and natural gas do not will be reduced in the near future. These calls are more like a voice crying in the desert, since against the backdrop of the introduction of a ceiling on Russian oil prices, non-functioning main gas pipelines and America’s refusal to increase supplies, only an extreme optimist could expect prices to drop.
Of course, the transfer of part of the production is not yet a sign of the decline and collapse of Europe, but these swallows have a very threatening color for the EU. If only because Brussels simply cannot physically create comfortable conditions for key financial donors and employers, and the United States, which itself was well battered by the pandemic and subsequent storms, is unlikely to let go of the goose that lays golden eggs.
Looking at all this, you will inevitably begin to believe that invisible global plans exist and are being successfully implemented.
Sergey Savchuk, RIA
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