IBERSOL | Integrated Management Report 2022

INTEGRATED MANAGEMENT REPORT 2022 agricultural products, this will cause food, animal feed, and beverage indices to fall by around 9% this year, according to the EIU (The Economist Intelligence Unit). Cereal prices have fallen significantly from their recent highs, but the trend in the coming months will continue to be influenced by events in the Black Sea region, in particular any further extensions of an agreement allowing Ukrainian wheat exports to transit through Black Sea corridors, despite the Russian blockade of Ukrainian ports. Developments in the Black Sea will also have an impact on the prices of oilseeds and vegetable oils, which are expected to reach a breaking point by the end of 2023. The war will also have an indirect impact on coffee, cocoa, and tea prices due to high fertiliser prices and consequent shortages. Energy scarcity According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), Europe risks shortages of liquefied natural gas in the winter of 2023-2024 if Russia completely halts supply to Europe and diverts all quantities to China. In addition, there are concerns that there may be some overconfidence about the ability to maintain gas reserves at comfortable levels until the summer and early autumn of 2023, given that 2022 saw a com- bination of weather conditions and consumption needs in different markets that may not be repeatable. For this reason, European states were urged to implement concrete measures to reduce natural gas consumption, not only in terms of direct gas consumption, but also by increasing the use of renewable energy sources (rather than electricity obtained from burning gas). In this context, the Ibersol Group continues to promote a set of ac- tions to reduce local gas and electricity consumption in its adminis- trative facilities and restaurants (On-Off Plan), having also started a closer monitoring of the carbon footprint associated with electricity consumption, with a view to establishing a decarbonisation roadmap over the coming years. 73