Shipping and refrigeration costs become larger factors in trade during periods of high energy prices such as the present. Suppliers with lower energy costs for food processing can arbitrage that advantage by shipping dehydrated product to countries with higher refrigeration costs. A good example is dried egg for the food processing industry. However, sometimes lower costs alone are not the determinant of trading. In the case of dried eggs, the U.S. producer average value of eggs is 46 percent less than the average value of Europe’s main exporters (Netherlands, France, Germany) of dried egg product. In addition, U.S. energy costs are lower with electricity priced at 50 percent less than three EU country average, slightly lower than Fra...
What You Need to Know Today: The hot, dry weather forecast continues to drive strength in grain futures with corn and soybeans hitting another day of strong gains. Monday’s Crop Progress and Conditions data were in line with market expectations and showed relatively few concerns for the...
Yesterday we wrote about the Q1 GDP numbers and the June employment reports in an article entitled Real GDP for Q1 Relying on AI Buildout, Held Back by Consumer Spending. That article mentioned that consumer spending had become a drag on GDP. Nonetheless, real GDP in Q1 was revised upward to 2...
Key Takeaways: The Middle East and North Africa's arid climate and limited water resources have created a structural dependence on imported wheat. Government wheat tenders in major importing countries serve as important benchmarks for global trade, providing insight into exporter competitivene...
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.