In July 1741, Sweden declared war on Russia. The war required mobilization of resources from outside the Swedish realm since it was impossible to support a large army contingent in Finland with only local resources. Thus, the procurement commission that was set up to administer and to coordinate the mobilization efforts started to negotiate with merchants in Stockholm, but also in other parts of the Baltic region, about the availability of food stuffs and other required goods in different locations. The Swedish government's demand for resources created chain reactions throughout the European continent among existing networks of merchants. In this paper, I investigate how this mobilization of resources affected the commercial ties between the Iberian Peninsula and the Baltic, especially concerning the trade in salt and alcohol. By focusing on the activities of some of the main suppliers to the Swedish army and navy in 1741-42, it is possible to show the impact war and government demand for goods had on trade and global commodity chains in the eighteenth century.