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

Summary of Futures

May 26 Corn closed at $4.6975/bushel, up $0.065 from yesterday's close.  May 26 Wheat closed at $6.08/bushel, up $0.0375 from yesterday's close.  May 26 Soybeans closed at $11.685/bushel, up $0.0675 from yesterday's close.  May 26 Soymeal closed at $332.5/short ton, up $10.8 from...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Export Sales

Export Sales and Shipments for March 6-12, 2026. Wheat: Net sales of 189,900 metric tons (MT) for 2025/2026 were down 58 percent from the previous week and 36 percent from the prior 4-week average. Export shipments of 383,100 MT were down 11 percent from the previous week and 7 percent from the...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Market Commentary: Energy Pulls Futures Higher, For Now

Tomorrow is Nowruz (spring equinox), the Persian New Year, but there will likely be no break from the war. There continued to be upward price pressure on grains and oilseeds, chasing the spike in fossil fuel prices. There may be ample fertilizer for Northern Hemisphere crops nearing planting ti...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Summary of Futures

May 26 Corn closed at $4.6975/bushel, up $0.065 from yesterday's close.  May 26 Wheat closed at $6.08/bushel, up $0.0375 from yesterday's close.  May 26 Soybeans closed at $11.685/bushel, up $0.0675 from yesterday's close.  May 26 Soymeal closed at $332.5/short ton, up $10.8 from...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Export Sales

Export Sales and Shipments for March 6-12, 2026. Wheat: Net sales of 189,900 metric tons (MT) for 2025/2026 were down 58 percent from the previous week and 36 percent from the prior 4-week average. Export shipments of 383,100 MT were down 11 percent from the previous week and 7 percent from the...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Market Commentary: Energy Pulls Futures Higher, For Now

Tomorrow is Nowruz (spring equinox), the Persian New Year, but there will likely be no break from the war. There continued to be upward price pressure on grains and oilseeds, chasing the spike in fossil fuel prices. There may be ample fertilizer for Northern Hemisphere crops nearing planting ti...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds biofuel

45Z: The Next Big Thing or the Next Big Mess?

The U.S. Treasury Department is (still!) working on the Section 45Z Clean Fuel Production Tax Credit.  The broad legislative effort for the act was launched in President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act and picked up with some significant adjustments in President Trump’s One Big...

Image
From WPI Consulting

Illuminating the value of technical research

On behalf of a commodity producer organization, WPI evaluated the outputs from a project that featured a $5 million investment into technical research over multiple years. WPI’s team captured the results of this extensive effort and synthesized them for presentation to the organization’s governing board; among the findings uncovered and presented for the first time was the development of genomic traits proven, via rigorous testing, to provide crop yield advantages of 50 percent or more to U.S. farmers in times of drought. Capturing measurable results from long-term efforts can be challenging. Educating clients on the dynamics of success measurement when quantifiable results are not readily available requires deep client-consultant collaboration and an ability to consider both near- and long-term client aspirations with market/policy dynamics – attributes that WPI brings to every consulting engagement.

Search World Perspectives

Sign In to World Perspectives

Don’t have an account yet? Sign Up