MEDITERRANEAN/MIDDLE EAST COMMENTS Officials in Iran say that the delay in discharging vessels in Khomeini Port is related to very heavy port volume. As much as 1 MMT of grain is reportedly waiting to be discharged from 20 bulk grain vessels and will be delayed for several weeks. Iran’s imports of basic goods have increased greatly this year as the country tries to import enough to offset the effect of U.S. sanctions on Iran. There is good news for MENA/Africa importers of Ukraine wheat as the government of the Ukraine has said that there will be no “formal cap” on wheat exports in the 2019/2020 year. Wheat exports are expected to exceed 19.5 MMT for 2019/20, up from about 2 MMT 10 years ago, according to World Grain. L...
What You Need to Know Today: Agricultural commodities were mostly lower on the day, with red-hot soyoil a notable exception. Export sales were a bit underwhelming, particularly for corn with export sales down 52 percent week-over-week. The weakness in ag markets tracked crude oil weakness wit...
With the war in Iran affecting fuel and fertilizer prices, higher tariffs, weak commodity prices, ag labor constraints, and other factors, farm bankruptcies are now at a 6-year high, a signal of growing stress. During the month of April, 62 Chapter 12 bankruptcies were filed, which is a 1...
WPI recently completed an expansion of our methodology for estimating and forecasting U.S. and global soybean crushing margins. The new approach incorporates the energy market’s expanding influence on the oilseed sector and the structural changes in global biofuel demand. This report is i...
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.