World Perspectives

Illogical War; Illogical Reparations; Precaution or Hysteria?; Relations and Wars

Illogical War One can imagine more sophisticated approaches to rebalancing trade concessions than the one undertaken by the Trump administration. The president’s assertion was that a larger trade deficit and lower average tariffs mean the U.S. is in a stronger negotiating position. However, that assumes undertaking disproportionate actions (i.e., the U.S. rebuffs more imports than the counter-party can rebuff from America). Yet at this juncture, it is simply hurting both sides equally. Also unclear is the renegotiation of NAFTA, whereby USDA says Canada need not make changes to its most egregious supply management programs.   Illogical Reparations Still bouncing around Washington ag circles is the idea of compensating U.S. fa...

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Livestock Industry Margins

Beef packer margins improved sharply last week but remained deeply negative, with estimated net losses narrowing to -$206/head from the prior week’s extreme levels. The recovery was driven by a stronger boxed beef cutout, which rose to $371.62/cwt, while fed cattle prices moved lower on t...

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Market Commentary: Gulf Conflict Creates Volatility but Little Support for Grains

The primary drivers of Monday’s grain trade were, of course, the U.S. and Israel’s weekend attacks on Iran that killed the latter country’s Supreme Leader Khamenei and the subsequent cascade of impacts on global markets. WPI covers these impacts in more detail in our nearby ar...

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Conflict in the Gulf: Impacts on Shipping and Energy

For weeks now, global energy and geopolitical markets have been speculating about a possible conflict in the Middle East between Iran and the U.S., but they still seemed unprepared and entirely surprised by what happened this weekend. Without going into the details that news outlets have alrea...

livestock

Livestock Industry Margins

Beef packer margins improved sharply last week but remained deeply negative, with estimated net losses narrowing to -$206/head from the prior week’s extreme levels. The recovery was driven by a stronger boxed beef cutout, which rose to $371.62/cwt, while fed cattle prices moved lower on t...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Market Commentary: Gulf Conflict Creates Volatility but Little Support for Grains

The primary drivers of Monday’s grain trade were, of course, the U.S. and Israel’s weekend attacks on Iran that killed the latter country’s Supreme Leader Khamenei and the subsequent cascade of impacts on global markets. WPI covers these impacts in more detail in our nearby ar...

farm-inputs energy

Conflict in the Gulf: Impacts on Shipping and Energy

For weeks now, global energy and geopolitical markets have been speculating about a possible conflict in the Middle East between Iran and the U.S., but they still seemed unprepared and entirely surprised by what happened this weekend. Without going into the details that news outlets have alrea...

Transatlantic Sensitivities; Political Calculations

Transatlantic Sensitivities The frustration between the U.S. and Europe runs both ways, but the calculation is still one of mutual need, as articulated by American Secretary of State Marco Rubio at last month’s Munich Security Conference. Two recent data points will exasperate the White H...

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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.

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