Daily Update — March 18, 2026
Sustainable Finance Spotlight; PMI in Focus; and Global Food Inflation Risks
Today is Wednesday, March 18, 2026, and here’s your curated selection of Essential Intelligence on global markets from S&P Global. Subscribe to be notified of each new Daily Update.
Energy Transition & Sustainability
Sustainable Finance Spotlight 2026
This report presents publications that support or exemplify S&P Global Ratings’ sustainable finance products. The “Behind the Shades” series, for example, explains how the Shades of Green analysis is used to assess the alignment of environmental projects and activities with the goals of the Paris Agreement on climate change.
S&P Global Ratings’ “Second Party Opinions” assess financing against a broad range of market standards. Ratings also provides “Climate Transition Assessments” at the entity level and “Post-Issuance Reviews” for labelled financing.
Economy
Listen: PMI in Focus: Turning Timely Economic Signals Into Strategy
In this episode of “The Decisive” podcast, S&P Global Market Intelligence economists Sian Jones and Andrew Harker joined host Paul Smith to unpack the role of Purchasing Managers’ Indexes (PMIs) in tracking economic trends across more than 40 countries and multiple sectors. They explored how PMI data offers a timely alternative to official statistics, helping organizations monitor output, prices, inventories and supply chains amid rapidly changing conditions.
The discussion looks at how PMI data is used to understand the impact of major global developments — such as war in the Middle East — on shipping, energy costs, input prices and supply shortages, including through specialized tools such as comment trackers and commodity price indexes.
Global Trade
Middle East war impacts global food security over fertilizer, fuel and freight issues
The war in the Middle East is renewing concerns about global food inflation as disruptions to the energy, fertilizer and shipping markets — key inputs to global food production — threaten to push agricultural supply chain costs higher.
Warnings from the UN World Food Programme and International Food Policy Research Institute, as well as market data compiled by S&P Global Energy, indicate that the conflict's impact is spreading beyond the region through rising fuel prices, tightening fertilizer supplies and disrupted maritime routes. The pressure is emerging just as global food prices had begun to stabilize following several years of volatility due to supply chain disruptions in the Black Sea stemming from the Russia-Ukraine war.
In case you missed it
- The Middle East conflict will increase costs and likely squeeze the profitability of many Asia-Pacific chemicals producers, disrupting access to some major raw materials and intermediate chemicals.
- Force majeure declarations due to the Middle East conflict are shaking up LNG supply, prompting European traders to reevaluate sourcing and pricing strategies.
- Insurers providing war cover in the Gulf countries are facing higher risks as the US and Israel continue their air campaign against Iran, which has retaliated by striking several nonmilitary targets in the region.
Upcoming events
- Private Market Valuations: From Vanilla to Complex Structures | March 22 (Webinar)
- Risk-Off Markets: Navigating the Financial Impact of the Iran Conflict | March 20 (Webinar)
- NAIC Policy Reforms and Insurance Investments: An NAIC Chairman's Perspective (Webinar Replay)