John Deere, ADM shut Ukraine operations

Deere and Co. and Archer-Daniels-Midland shuttered operations in Ukraine after Russia launched a full offensive into Ukraine this past week.

ADM, a grain company which has facilities in Cedar Rapids, employs more than 630 people in Ukraine. It operates an oil seed crushing plant in Chornomorsk, a grain terminal in Odessa, five inland and one river silos, and a trading office in Kyiv, according to ADM’s website.

Deere, the Moline, Ill.-based agriculture implement manufacturer, has a sales office in Ukraine, which the company says it has closed.

The energy industry had been following developments in Ukraine for months now, Illinois Petroleum Resources Board Executive Director Seth Whitehead said.

Both global and U.S. benchmark crude oils crossed $100 a barrel by Thursday, but prices cooled, falling below $93 a barrel by midday Friday.

"$100 oil is not good for anyone," Whitehead said.

So far, sanctions against Russia announced by President Joe Biden on Thursday and Friday, have not included sanctioning U.S. imports of oil.

Biden did announce sanctions on technology, including computer chips, and major Russian banks, and froze the assets of the Russian president and several elite Russians.

"It's not clear whether this will have an effect in terms of limiting his military attack or withdrawing from Ukraine," said Vincent Auger, political-science professor at Western Illinois University. "But it is action that the U.S. at the Europeans can take to impose some costs on Russia but also limit the possibility of escalating military."

Russia and Ukraine are major producers not only of energy products but also grains and various other commodities.

Ukraine and Russia together produce more than a quarter of the world's wheat. War could upend global supplies, as could sanctions brought by the United States and other allies, which could affect prices of food at home.

"Anything that is derived from wheat potentially could see those costs go up, not because we get our wheat from Ukraine but because wheat is a world market," said Bill Polley, a Western Illinois University economics professor.

"So if the Ukrainian wheat market is disrupted, that is going to cause world prices to increase."

There are also concerns about price hikes on fertilizer, a major Russian export, and the impact on the domestic agriculture sector.

Among other major companies with ties to Russia that likely will be affected by its invasion of Ukraine is Raytheon Technologies, parent of Collins Aerospace, Cedar Rapids’ largest employer.

Defense One, a national security website, reported on Friday that “analysts said defense companies with large commercial businesses, including Boeing, Raytheon Technologies and Honeywell, are the most exposed" by potential U.S. sanctions.

“Russia accounts for a relatively small but important part of such companies’ supply chains and customer base,” the site said. “They buy Russian metals, including titanium, and export parts and commercial aircraft to the country.”

A Collins Aerospace spokeswoman declined comment on Monday.

The Gazette, Chicago Tribune, Bloomington-Normal, Ill., Pantagraph and Associated Press contributed to this report.