Editor's Note: Despite the war going on all around them, this update is provided by WPI’s consultants in Kyiv. We know that Ana and her new baby have made it to Poland; others on the team no doubt are enduring hardships. Yuriy even expressed guilt that this is the best they can do under the circumstances. It is actually quite insightful. We are certain that WPI’s clients share our hopes and prayers for their safety, and that of the rest of Ukraine. Since the beginning of Russian invasion on 24 February, the agricultural market in Ukraine has been frozen. ADM and Bunge – the biggest international companies - suspended all their business including trading operations, oil processing plants and seaport terminals. According to...
What You Need to Know Today: There has already been a strong run of flash soybean sales announcements in recent weeks, but more than 1.4 MMT reported this morning is an exceptionally large single-day total with major implications for the market. If the sales to China and unknown destinations w...
In agriculture and food processing, we think a lot about infrastructure: transportation and storage, processing and packaging, distribution and delivery. It is a physical system of roads, railroads, and rivers; concrete and steel storage; processing plants, warehouses, and machinery; and, event...
Key Takeaways: The Panama Canal’s draft restrictions and decreasing rainfall outlook are driving big moves in dry bulk markets this week. Panamax markets are sharply lower as the economics of moving freight across the Canal are deteriorating rapidly, leading to support in Supramax vessels...
From WPI Consulting
Forecasting developments in production agriculture
On behalf of a private U.S. agricultural technology provider, WPI’s team generated an econometric model to forecast the movement of concentrated corn production north and west from the traditional U.S. Corn Belt. WPI’s model has subsequently provided quantitative support to a multi-million-dollar investment into short-season corn variety development. WPI’s methodology included a series of interviews with regional grain elevators and seed consultants. Emphasizing outreach and communication with stakeholders who possess intimate sectoral knowledge – on-the-ground insights – is a regular component of WPI’s methodologies, made possible by WPI’s ever-growing network of industry contacts.