Aluminium, palladium, nickel, wiring harnesses… Russia and Ukraine both are major suppliers.
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I collect (and use) both vintage and contemporary fountain pens. Quality pens use palladium, iridium, and gold in their nibs. I’ve noticed their prices rising considerably in recent months.
Add neon to the list, which is used to make the chips we are so short of:
The Invasion Of Ukraine Could Make The Chip Shortage Even Worse (jalopnik.com)
Stuff happens. What do you propose we do? Beware if political booby traps in answers, btw. It would be a shame to lose a good response if it includes partisan politics.
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I’m not proposing anything. This is a car forum, not a war strategy or political forum. Simply posting some pertinent info regarding looming shortages of additional critical components for auto manufacturing, as many others have done and frequently do. Not trying to “stir the pot.”
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Of gee I don’t know. Seems pretty obvious though.
Not only those minerals but the ingredient for farm fertilizer is screaming high. We left the farm rental rates alone due to the high cost increases of fertilizer back in January. The boys locked in a hefty price increase but nothing like if they would have waited till now. This will affect every farmer and their products. Russia provides about 25%. The madness continues.
All the raw materials to build cars being in short supply and high cost is a problem, but it is tomorrow’s problem. Unless of course your car has been totaled in a wreck… I can keep mine running for quite a while… don’t need a new one. The effect is downstream a bit. Hurts the economy today, is a critical shortage for some but not most.
Supplies of oil for fuel, tires, iron for brake rotors, repair parts and other consumables is a today problem that affects more than cars. Farm equipment is (and has been) in a pinch for tires and parts. Plus the cost of fertilizer is high IF you can find it. Same for Semi Trucks. Both affect food. Food is already in a pinch and will only get worse. Pasta, of all things, is very hard in SW Florida.
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One thing often overlooked is carbon black. The plant about 10 miles from here manufactures and ships tons of it every day by truck and rail cars.
Carbon black is used in many products with a few of them being electronic components, paint/inks, and tires. It’s what keeps those tires from wearing out in a few thousand miles.
And of course, carbon black is made from the incomplete combustion of oil or natural gas; as in soot.
I can see everything requiring carbon black taking a big jump up in price.
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I’d totally forgotten about carbon black. Whether it was you or someone else mentioning the product and its uses some time back was the first I had ever known about it having industrial use.
One of the largest early suppliers of carbon black to tire manufacturers was a company called Binney and Smith. They also made Crayola Crayons
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I remember my mom talking about the advent of Buna synthetic rubber in WW2 when natural rubber supplies from the Far East were cut off.
Here’s an interesting article regarding the development of synthetic rubber. I’m sure @CapriRacer could tell us far more about current modern production of tires and other synthetic rubber products.
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Unfortunately for me I am going to need a new vehicle in a couple of months. I am moving to Florida and giving my old truck to a friend.
I guess that is kind of the story of my life. A day late and a dollar short.
Now that I have the dollar, I am short of new vehicles. 
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I spent the entire decade of the 1970’s believing firmly in “better living through chemicals”, either the ones I ingested or the ones I wore to the disco on Friday nights.
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And so many people SMOKED back then… amazing all that polyester didn’t just burst into flames! Same for the 60’s Aqua-Net hair-do’s on the women! The risks we took!
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Heh heh. We had the contract for the spray cans. One time got a truck load back that had been rejected. A slight shade difference in the rose printing interspersed with good ones. Too little ink I suppose on one of the pallets of sheet metal. What a pain sorting through thousands of cans picking out the good ones in my spare time. 50 years ago but still think back when I see a can on the grocery shelf.
Lol fifteen character minimum.
I still have a pair of white polyester double knit slacks.
I remember going to a disco and you couldn’t see the dance floor from all the smoke. At first I thought it was a smoke machine…but no - it was cigarette smoke. One reason I stopped going to bars back then - couldn’t stand breathing all that second hand smoke.
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… and your clothing would REEK after being in one of those smoke-filled places. Everything that you wore had to go to the dry cleaners or the washing machine the next day.
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