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Germany may face shortages of such staples as toilet paper and cardboard if Russian gas supply dwindles in the coming months, German outlet Zeit Online reported on Wednesday.
Operating paper plants may become unprofitable if they are forced to produce at reduced capacity because of gas shortages, the publication cites Jรผrgen Schaller, Chairman of the Board of the Bavarian Paper Associations, as warning. Producing paper requires a lot of water, electricity and gas, Schaller explained, adding that
the technology is tried and tested and cannot be changed quickly.Shaller told Zeit Online:
"Many employees in my company are already very worried. I can't blame them. Because if we can only produce 50 or 60 percent, the operation is not worthwhile for us. To be honest, I worry too."
Germany and the EU as a whole have recently seen a reduction in natural gas supplies from Russia, which led to
numerous warnings of possible industrial shutdowns. The Nord Stream 1 pipeline is currently operating at 20% capacity due to technical issues with turbines at the Portovaya compressor station.
Gazprom is unable to use another transit route, via Ukraine, to full capacity because, according to the Russian energy giant,
Ukraine's gas transport network has been rejecting its transit applications.
Comment: One could be forgiven, as per the video below, for finding the fearmongering response to this development rather suspicious. Because farmers across much of the West, and beyond, are being forced out (and bought out) of business by their own governments, and this is looking like yet another possible avenue of attack that will be used against farmers, and ultimately, consumers.
For a few years now, swine herds and chicken flocks have already been devastated by their own outbreaks, and the resulting culls. And that's not taking into account crop failures, soaring inflation, lockdown created backlogs and staff shortages, and the West's war on Russia via its proxy Ukraine, that have all contributed to a catastrophic reduction in the food supply: