Regional News Egypt raised the price of wheat it buys from its farmers by 20 percent to $323.90/MT after January-March imports totaled 23 MMT (up 13 percent) and hit a new record high. Algeria is reported to have purchased 400-450 KMT of durum wheat most likely sourced from Mexico and Canada at prices of $412-430/MT CNF for May-June delivery. The Food Agency of France is pushing for a ban on the use of the insecticide Phosphine in cereals crops. Such a move would make it more difficult for the country to export grain to African countries, where treatment is required for import. Barley prices have pushed lower, reportedly, because of this effort. Slovakia has announced it will ban the import of Ukrainian grain and...
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.