Highlights
Yesterday afternoon US time, Iran launched hundreds of drones and then missiles aimed at Israel. Russia also attacked Ukraine’s northeast city of Kharkiv with the same Iranian-made Shahed drones yesterday afternoon. US intelligence believes Iran has as many as 500 drones and missiles to launch from Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Yemen. US and British air forces participated in neutralizing threats before entering Israeli airspace. Minor damage sustained at an Israeli military base in the south.
Early Saturday, Islamic pirates from Iran hijacked the Portuguese-flagged container ship MSC ARIES, which was sailing from the UAE to India when it was hijacked near the Strait of Hormuz. Twenty Filipino sailors were kidnapped.
Bloomberg reports Iranian crude oil production in March was the most in any month in the past 5½ years according to international trade data. Either Iran is very good at bypassing US sanctions or those sanctions are not being enforced. When Biden became President, Iran was producing ~2 million barrels per day. In March 2023, Iran produced ~3.3 million barrels a day.
Brownfield summed-up USDA April rice and cotton numbers: