The CBOT’s weather- and Black Sea-conflict induced rally took a break on Thursday with traders reassessing both global export market conditions and the U.S. weather forecast. There is a growing sense that the immediate impacts of the Black Sea grain export corridor’s expiration have been priced into markets, which has given way to a bit of profit taking and “top picking”. U.S. farmers have been active hedgers and marketers on the rally, which helped keep today’s price action somewhat subdued. At the same time, the U.S. weather forecast is only deteriorating further in terms of the summer crop yield outlook and the price risk posed by the yield-reduction potential has signifcant upside. WPI would be unsurprised...
What You Need to Know Today: The U.S. and Iran exchanged strikes, with the U.S. hitting Iranian bridges, energy sites, and military infrastructure. Iran launched a missile into Kuwait that damaged a desalination plant. Crude oil futures surged on heightened Middle East tensions, providing supp...
Key Takeaways: The EU heatwaves have coincided with key maize crop reproductive timing and featured high nighttime temperatures, a cruel two-sided blow to maize yields. France, much of western Europe, and Hungary have suffered the worst of the heat, with yield potential collapsing. WPI&r...
Congress returned this week from its Fourth of July recess, with another break scheduled for the month of August, to face a busy agenda before adjourning for the August recess. Congress has several priorities, including the National Defense Authorization Act, a potential third reconciliation pa...
From WPI Consulting
Weighing in on strategic realignment
WPI’s team was retained by the governing board of a U.S. industry organization to review a decision, reached by vote, to invest significant assets into the development and management of an export trading company. WPI’s team conducted a formal review of this decision and concluded that the current level of market saturation would limit the benefits of the investment. Based on WPI’s analysis and recommended actions, the board subsequently reversed its decision and undertook a strategic planning effort to identify more impactful investments. On behalf of numerous clients, WPI has not only assisted in identifying strategic paths but also advised their implementation.