Regional Updates MIDDLE EAST/MEDITERRANEAN COMMENTS Egypt has revised its terms for government wheat purchases after suppliers were refusing to participate in recent tenders. The major change regards demurrage fees, which suppliers were previously responsible for at discharge and in some cases resulted in charges for weeks of delays. Now, however, they will only be held responsible for a maximum of 12 days demurrage at $12,000 per day. This equates to about $2.50/MT of demurrage risk, and suppliers will build this into their tender prices. Egypt’s GASC has also lowered its protein requirement for Russian, Ukrainian and Romanian wheat from 12 percent to 11.5 percent. This requirement for French wheat was cut from 11.5 percent to 11...
What You Need to Know Today: The corn and soybean markets closed slightly higher in low-volume trade. The wheat market was mixed, with HRW continuing its downward trek on improved moisture. As expected, the bearish cattle on feed report drove down cattle prices and pulled hogs down with it. Mi...
Monday, 25 May is a U.S. holiday, and both the markets and our office will be closed. Please note that the next issue of Ag Perspectives will be published on Tuesday, 26 May. The WPI staff wishes everyone a safe and enjoyable holiday weekend...
USDA’s monthly cattle on feed report was released today. The total number of cattle on feed in feedlots with 1,000 head or more capacity amounted to 11.6 million head, 102 percent of last year. Source: USDA, WPI Placements were up, but part of that is attributable to persistent drought c...
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.