In the past three years, India has switched from being the number four exporter of sugar in the world to number two. Over the past dozen years, its domestic production has grown by 56 percent, but its exports have exploded by 229 percent. It turns out there is a reason. In a WTO challenge by Australia, Brazil and Guatemala, it turns out that New Delhi has exceeded its bindings on how much domestic support it can provide to sugar growers. Almost worse, it failed in its obligation to notify the WTO of its subsidies. India’s actions breed distrust in at least two ways: 1) the country had already been caught exceeding its subsidy bindings on other agricultural products and its failure of notification undermines the WTO; and 2) it p...
USDA and sugar have been married since 1934. With such an old marriage, there are all manner of promises, obligations and compromises. There are disagreements and arguments, and occasional calls for divorce, but they lack real conviction. We outsiders find it all so difficult to understand. The...
From WPI Consulting
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.