A ransomware attack on America's largest fuel pipeline, which carries 45% of the East Coast's supply of diesel, petrol and jet fuel, could lead to fuel shortages. The Colonial Pipeline became compromised by the cyberattack on Friday, and hackers threatened to leak the information online unless a ransom is paid. As a result Colonial had to shut the pipeline down, and it currently remains offline. Click or scroll on to see how could it affect fuel supplies and prices in the US.

The FBI and other government agencies worked with private companies to immobilise the system the hackers used to collect the data, but it's still not clear if it's safe for Colonial to resume operations. While fuel prices currently remain steady, if the shutdown continues prices are likely to spike, especially as America's oil inventories have been in decline, and demand has just started to rise as travel is on the up as the COVID-19 pandemic eases. 

The US government even had to introduce emergency legislation on Sunday so that fuel drivers in 18 states can work longer and more flexible hours when transporting fuel by road so that fuel can be driven up the pipeline to New York, but this will not be enough to plug the gap. 

But this isn't the first shortage America has experienced over the past year, and the same goes for the rest of the world too. Whether due to panic buying because of the andemic or shipping delays caused by the recent Suez Canal crisis, shortages have affected a variety of products. From potato chips and cheese to Nintendo consoles, click or scroll through to see products that have been hard to come by.

Flour is not only a necessity for making your own bread, but for most home bakes. And so scenes such as this one became increasingly common as bakers across the world depleted supermarket shelves. Sales of flour were up 205% in Italy in March 2020 compared to the same period in 2019, according to research by the Co-op supermarket. In the UK, flour mills worked tirelessly to meet demand, which increased by 92% in the four weeks leading up to 22 March 2020 compared to 2019. The high demand led to snags in the supply chain, and the global flour shortage was still notable in May, prompting disused mills to be brought back into action in the UK in June, including a 1,000-year-old mill in Dorset, England.

Another store cupboard essential that had shoppers going crazy was pasta, and in Canada there was a 205% increase in sales in March 2020, according to Canadian Grocer. German supermarket chain Aldi even sent extra freight trains to Italy to pick up additional packets of fusilli, spaghetti and penne last March and April. In the UK, most supermarkets introduced limits on the number of packets of pasta an individual could buy during the first lockdown, and when the country was plunged into stricter measures for Christmas before a third lockdown, some supermarkets reintroduced limits on dried pasta, among other key products, due to fears of panic buying.

At the start of the coronavirus pandemic it wasn't just wheat-based staples such as flour that were flying off the shelves, as some panic buyers turned to free-from alternatives, such as gluten-free pasta. In Canada stocks of non-gluten products were quickly depleted, which caused concern that coeliac disease sufferers who can’t eat gluten would be left with limited supplies. A similar trend was seen in Australia as well as in the UK, where there was a 17.6% rise in free-from grocery sales between 18 April and 16 May compared to 2019. Like many of the foods in this round-up, the shopping frenzy for free-from products died down within a couple of weeks.

As people turn to tinned foods, the world started stocking up on tuna with global sales having increased in the first six months of 2020. US shoppers were among those hoarding long-life tuna products, with sales up 142% for the week ending 14 March 2020 compared to the same period in 2019. The EU saw sales jump by 80% around the same period.

A year ago, snacks store shelves started to look pretty bare as shoppers stocked up on nibbles for lockdown. In the US, potato chip sales increased 30% for the week ending 14 March 2020 compared to 2019, while pretzels were up 47% and popcorn was up by 48%, according to Nielsen data. In the UK, sales went up by 28% during the summer period as Brits bought up food for socially-distanced outdoor picnics, according to Food Manufacture.

Bored families turned to old-fashioned entertainment sources under lockdown, but in Dubai the games trend took a topical twist. Shoppers were, perhaps bizarrely, buying pandemic-related board games such as Pandemic and Virus, and retailers across the country reported that they had sold out of both games.

As people scrambled to stay active while gyms were shut, there was a surge in demand for home fitness kit. An analysis of debit card spending by Bank of Ireland has shown increased spending on home fitness equipment since 12 March 2020, while in the UK fitness product sales were up 53% on the weekend of 20 March 2020 compared to February, according to analysis by global affiliate network Awin. In Taiwan, one online retailer reported a 30% increase in the sale of weightlifting equipment last year compared to 2019, the Taipei Times reported. And the trend didn't die down – American company Peloton expected delays in deliveries of its high-tech exercise bikes right through until the end of 2020.

Lockdown measures across the world led to an increased interest in gardening, with almost all fruit and vegetable seeds going out of stock on Walmart’s US site. Seed suppliers in Australia and New Zealand were similarly overwhelmed – King Seeds, New Zealand’s largest seed supplier, had to temporarily suspend online orders after business was 10 times higher than usual.

And consoles have seen a boost too. Nintendo’s share price soared to a 52-week high of 47,000 yen ($453/£340) on 16 April 2020, with the Nintendo Switch console contributing significantly to that success. The Switch console sold out at major retailers in the US and UK, and on Amazon and Walmart’s websites, which allow third-party sellers, the console has been spotted selling at inflated prices – in fact, on Amazon the Nintendo Switch has a minimum mark up of $125 (£100). Nintendo's share price hit 67,850 yen ($624/£455) in mid-December, which was the highest it had been since December 2007. However, it surpassed this on 17 February 2021 when the share price hit 68,610 yen ($631/£460).

The closure of pubs in the UK had an unexpected impact on the country’s condiment industry – Marmite shortages. Production of the love-it-or-hate-it spread is heavily dependent on brewer’s yeast, a by-product of the brewing processes that ground to a halt once pubs shuttered their bars to customers because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Marmite was forced to limit the manufacture of its yeast extract spread and was only distributing 250g jars due to the shortage of its key ingredient. However, as England’s lockdown measures started to relax on 12 April, allowing for pubs to welcome people in outdoor space, lovers of Marmite can be confident that their condiment won't be as hard to come by.

At the start of the pandemic, toilet paper became a victim of panic buying. While there was actually enough supply, manufacturers were struggling to keep it on the shelves. In fact, Procter & Gamble that makes Charmin and Kimberly-Clark that makes Cottonelle both increased production at the time to keep up with high demand, which doubled in the first weeks of March alone. This remained high throughout 2020, and it soon became a hot commodity. But in 2021 the situation has calmed, and sales in the US have returned to pre-pandemic levels and could be set to drop a little further as many report having ample amounts of toilet paper from when they stocked up throughout last year.

In March, Grape-Nuts cereal finally returned to US store shelves after months of shortages during the pandemic due to production issues and demand outstripping supply. Shortages of Grape-Nuts and Grape-Nuts Flakes cereals started at the end of 2020, and led to some aficionados to buy up boxes of the coveted cereal at inflated prices. For example, in January a third-party seller on Walmart put a 4lbs (64oz) box of the cereal up for sale for $110 (£80), when a box of that size typically retails at $6.49 (£4.70). Similarly high prices have been seen on eBay and Amazon. 

But Grape-Nuts is sympathetic to fans who have paid over the odds to get hold of the cereal during the shortage, and the company has put aside $10,000 (£7.3k) in order to offer those who paid $10 (£7.30) or more for a box between 1 November and 15 March (and have a receipt) "a partial refund of up to $115 (£84) to help cover the difference between the amount paid and the suggested retail price of the Grape-Nuts Original cereal box purchased".  The brand is now assuring fans that the shipping of its cereal to stores is back to usual levels.

But it's not just the COVID-19 pandemic that has led to shortages. Click or scroll through to find out what else has been affected by supply issues...

Back in March, Costco suffered from a cheese shortage. In fact, cheese imports to all US retailers were impacted. This dairy 'crisis' was caused by higher demand, a global shortage of shipping containers, and bottlenecks at several main West Coast sea ports, including Los Angeles, Long Beach, Oakland and Seattle, since December last year. In fact, there are containers with cheese stock sitting out at sea unable to get in to the US. Why? One factor is imports to America by sea grew by 20% in January compared to the same month in 2020, with the cost of getting goods into the US by water reaching $6.36 billion (£4.6bn), more than double the $2.46 billion (£1.8bn) cost in January last year. Issues in other markets and their tariffs are also having a huge impact. 

Costco CFO Richard Galanti reported during the company's most recent earnings call that it was also experiencing decreased supplies of olive oil and seafood, as well as other household goods such as furniture, garden supplies and sports equipment due to the container shortages. However, Galanti noted that Costco "expect these pressures to ease in the coming months, but it’s impacting everyone, of course". 

America is undergoing something of a chicken shortage as demand is exceeding supply. The amount of chicken raised for food in the US was down 3% in the first quarter of 2021 due in part to storms in major chicken-producing areas in the south of the country while at the same time America's love for poultry has grown, with several fast food chains launching new chicken dishes to cater to comfort food cravings. But shortages have led some restaurants to limit the amount of chicken sandwiches and wings they sell or adjust meal deals and promotional offers. However, as production has picked up again in April, the situation shouldn't last too long.

A global shortage of semiconductors – computer chips that act as the 'brain' in most electrical devices – has been brewing since last year. When the pandemic hit, factory closures created delays in semiconductor supply, but now production has returned to normal the issue is increased demand. Why? Changing habits are leading industries such as electric cars to put a strain on manufacturers, and this has led other hardware-producing companies to suffer. Apple had to delay the launch of the iPhone 12 last year due to the shortage, and this year Samsung has revealed it's going to postpone the launch of its latest model, despite the fact it actually produces semiconductors and is the world's second-largest producer. It's going to hit many businesses financially, and Ford is predicting that its profits will be hit to the tune of $2.5 billion (£1.7bn) this year due to the lack of semiconductors.

In late March the 220,000-tonne container ship Ever Given spent a week stuck in the Suez Canal, blocking traffic from both directions. Using tugboats and intensively dredging the canal's bank, as well as receiving a helping hand from high tides, the salvage teams finally managed to free the ship, but couldn't stop the delays to Ever Given's cargo and the 422 ships that had been blocked by its grounding. Every day the Ever Given was stuck it was holding up an estimated $9.6 billion (£6.9bn) of goods, and experts predicted it would take weeks for trade to return to usual levels. In fact, even though the Canal is now unblocked the Ever Given ship and its cargo is still stuck as the Egyptian authorities are holding it as they dispute the $600 million (£425m) compensation claim with the vessel's Japanese owner.

Ever Given itself was transporting 110 containers of IKEA goods, while other ships prevented from passing through the channel were also carrying goods for the Swedish furniture giant. An IKEA spokesperson underlined that the delay added to an already difficult trade situation in the wake of COVID-19: "The blockage of the Suez Canal is an additional constraint to an already challenging and volatile situation for global supply chains brought on by the pandemic."

At least 20 ships caught up in the jam contained livestock, with five having loaded animals in Spain and nine coming from Romania among them, according to NGO Animal International. Egypt sent fodder and vets to look after the animals. This isn't the first issue with livestock transportation this year, as thousands of cattle from Spain were slaughtered because of delays with paperwork that saw the animals stranded at sea. The issue with the Ever Given container ship saw Spain put a stop to any new ships with livestock leaving the country for Saudi Arabia or Jordan, which means it could take a while for animal trade to reach usual levels. This impacted food markets in particular.

Meanwhile, Rotterdam-based international tea supplier Van Rees Group had 80 containers of tea across 15 ships in the Suez Canal. The group admitted that it was "chaos" for the company as the situation started to affect supplies. 

Garden gnomes have also fallen victim to both pandemic buying and the recent Suez Canal crisis, and garden centres in the UK have been reporting shortages. Garden accessories and furniture have experienced a boom during the pandemic, which has depleted gnome stock in the UK. But delays due to the Ever Given ship blocking the Suez Canal has seen the problem exacerbated, and the raw supplies such as plastic and stone used for making new gnomes have been affected too.

Now read about the world's most expensive things