China Developments For a second day in a row, China bought U.S. soybeans now totaling nearly a half million tons early this week, not counting sales to unknown destinations. These sales come despite a U.S. industry concern that Beijing would ignore the economics favoring U.S. soybeans and purchase from South America out of spite for Washington’s antagonistic trade policy. After all, it responded to the Trump trade war in 2019 by favoring soybeans from South America. Meanwhile, the EU is only slightly lowering its punitive tariffs on imports of Chinese built EV’s. The duties were based on the calculated level of subsidies each manufacturer received from the government. As one analyst noted, Beijing cannot mimic Japa...
Infrastructure investment due diligence
On behalf of a Canadian oilseed processer WPI's team provided market analysis, econometric modeling and financial due diligence in support of a $24 million-dollar investment in a Ukrainian crush plant. Consistent with WPI's findings, local production to supply the plant and the facility's output have expanded exponentially since the investment. WPI has conducted parallel work on behalf of U.S., South American and European clients, both private and public, in the agri-food space.
There was heavy volume exiting soybeans, which dragged down the broader market today. The lack of a specific Chinese buying commitment for soybeans undermined speculators who had placed bets on state-directed trade. But even the Chinese do not totally ignore market fundamentals. They may still...
On Tuesday, 12 May, WPI reported on an Executive Order being prepared by the Trump Administration to suspend tariff rate quotas (TRQs) on beef from all exporters for 200 days as a means of addressing high beef prices in the United States. After considerable pushback from cattle producer groups,...
WPI has officially launched Transportation Perspectives as a standalone weekly report separate from our Ag Perspectives articles and analysis. Current Ag Perspectives subscribers will have gratis access to the report through 16 April 2026. Please email us or subscribe online after this date to...