Join the new world

What happened?

You may have noticed there's a trade embargo between the UK and Hungary since yesterday afternoon. This technically means no goods can be sold on each others markets, but in reality this basically means the UK can't import iron from Hungary, one of the UK's two important sources of this, the most valuable raw material.



Why?

The embargo has been caused by the active war between Slovenia and Italy. The UK are allies of Slovenia, the Hungarians are allies of Italy.

OMG! WTF? We're at war with Hungary?

No. Enhance your calm. This conflict is simply Phoenix region-swapping to bring force to bear against the Polish occupation of France in Rhone-Alps. Poland's being a butt. A very large butt. By a bit of nifty territorial footwork Phoenix can nip at the heels of Poland like proverbial hyenas surrounding a white-and-red lion.

How long will this last?

This is difficult to say. If all goes well, perhaps 48 hours. If more maneuvers are required, it could be a week or more. Sorry, I'm not in the government and not au fait with Phoenix planning. Our government aren't saying anything, so I'm chipping in. But truthfully: not a Scooby.

So what does this mean?

For weapons company owners in the UK who buy their metal off the market, it may mean a slight increase in price you pay for your iron.

You can simply absorb this price increase and wait out the embargo if your margins are good enough or you can avoid this by arranging a purchase agreement with your main supplier and shipping the goods via the 'donate' button of the Iron company's organisation. PM your supplier and ask if he'll be willing to enter into such an agreement. You may save money on this in the long term as you don't have to pay the 1% import tax. (Personally, I don't think it's worth the hassle and if that 1% is the key to you succeeding and failing, then you're doing it wrong anyway.)

For iron suppliers, you'll suddenly find you can't sell your goods in the UK. The Hungarian market's massively oversaturated, so you're unlikey to be able to make a profit selling there. You have the same two choices as above: ride it out accumulating iron to hit the UK market with when the embargo lifts (although bear in mind if everyone else is thinking the same we may see a sudden glut and consequently low prices for a week or two) or you can try to enter into an donation-based trading relationship with weapons companies. This is harder to achieve as a supplier, however. Ask on IRC or the forums, if they're your bag.

Don't panic!

There will almost certainly be a perturbed iron market for a little while. Weapons makers, you really ought not be affected too greatly by this, choose one of the above options for the time being. Suppliers, good luck.

Now write to the PM and ask him why his government's not written this article so that more people can see it.