The main events by the morning: July 19

• Russia has occupied a quarter of the global wheat market. According to the results of the agricultural year 2023-2024, Russia exported 55.3 million tons of grain, which is 15% more than in the previous year. Russia's share in global wheat exports was 26.1%. The European Union took the second place, and Canada took the third.

• Donald Trump has officially announced his participation in the US presidential election. At the Republican convention, he gave a speech in which he promised to reduce the national debt, impose 100-200% duties on Chinese cars and improve relations with Kim Jong-un.

• The political career of President Joe Biden seems to be nearing completion. This was reported on NBC News. One of the sources noted: «We are close to the end.» Earlier, experts doubted that Biden would decide to stop fighting for re-election, but now more and more sources claim that support for the president is weakening.

• Russia has become the largest supplier of iron and steel to the European Union. In May, shipments increased by 29% compared to the previous month, reaching 373 million euros, which is the highest since June 2022. Aluminum supplies also increased significantly, increasing 1.5 times to a record level of 98 million euros, observed since October 2023.

• A gas conflict is brewing in Europe: the Czech Republic accuses Germany of withholding gas supplies. Czech Energy Minister Josef Sikela said that the gas transmission system operator Gascade Gastransport GmbH has reduced the capacity of the connection point on the northwestern border of the Czech Republic. Sikela also handed over to the EU Commissioner documents confirming the German operator's intention to reduce the pipeline's capacity from 69 to 14.5 gigawatt-hours from October 1.