World Perspectives
softs

Going up with a Bang

A futures contract that persistently moves up or down by just a penny or two each day imposes its own burden on the market. While speculators are said to prosper from volatility, and sellers want higher prices and buyers prefer them lower, everyone prefers a story. Apparently, the cotton market is boring everyone involved. It has traded in the same 69₵ to 72₵ range for months, and the October WASDE failed to provide any other direction. 

While the U.S. cotton market has seen volatility in recent years, over three-quarters of it is exported to the world market, which has been flatter than a pancake for years. 

The lack of demand growth against synthetics has been a challenge. Expectations lean bearish. However, war-torn Ukrai...

Related Articles
feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Market Commentary: Grain Markets Navigate Energy Risk and Dollar Strength

Key Market Developments Today’s theme was geopolitics and economics. Tension between the United States and Iran escalated despite reports of an “understanding” reached during Tuesday’s nuclear discussions. Iran temporarily shut parts of the Strait of Hormuz during milita...

Tariff Impacts; HPF: the New Climate Change

Tariff Impacts Calculating the impacts of President Trump’s tariffs is heavy fodder for economists. Many made predictions about their impacts long before the rubber even met the road. Predictions of a tariff-caused recession have been debunked, and there is little impact on inflation. Now...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Summary of Futures

Mar 26 Corn closed at $4.27/bushel, up $0.0075 from yesterday's close.  Mar 26 Wheat closed at $5.47/bushel, up $0.0925 from yesterday's close.  Mar 26 Soybeans closed at $11.335/bushel, down $0.005 from yesterday's close.  Mar 26 Soymeal closed at $303.9/short ton, down $1.9 fro...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Market Commentary: Grain Markets Navigate Energy Risk and Dollar Strength

Key Market Developments Today’s theme was geopolitics and economics. Tension between the United States and Iran escalated despite reports of an “understanding” reached during Tuesday’s nuclear discussions. Iran temporarily shut parts of the Strait of Hormuz during milita...

Tariff Impacts; HPF: the New Climate Change

Tariff Impacts Calculating the impacts of President Trump’s tariffs is heavy fodder for economists. Many made predictions about their impacts long before the rubber even met the road. Predictions of a tariff-caused recession have been debunked, and there is little impact on inflation. Now...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Summary of Futures

Mar 26 Corn closed at $4.27/bushel, up $0.0075 from yesterday's close.  Mar 26 Wheat closed at $5.47/bushel, up $0.0925 from yesterday's close.  Mar 26 Soybeans closed at $11.335/bushel, down $0.005 from yesterday's close.  Mar 26 Soymeal closed at $303.9/short ton, down $1.9 fro...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Market Commentary: Weather Pressures Grains; Crush Pace Boosts Soybeans

The CBOT managed to recover from a dramatic overnight plunge with soybeans leading the fight to put values back in the green. Most of the news coming out of the weekend was bearish – between larger Russian wheat crop projections, the advancing South American harvests, and generally favora...

Image
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.

Search World Perspectives

Sign In to World Perspectives

Don’t have an account yet? Sign Up