World barley carryover stocks are forecast at 16.2 MMT in 2022/23, which would be the lowest since 1983/84 when the global population was 40 percent smaller than it is today. This historic tightness in barley availability is pulling U.S. barley prices higher, but not as much as would ordinarily be expected. In fact, the correlation of U.S. barley prices to global supply and demand is quite low. This is because the U.S. is a very minor participant in the global barley market. Only about 7 percent of U.S. production is exported, and that contributes a tiny one-half percent to the globally traded supply. This is in part because U.S. farmers find other crops to be more valuable in terms of net returns. This despite the higher loan rate for bar...
What You Need to Know Today: There has already been a strong run of flash soybean sales announcements in recent weeks, but more than 1.4 MMT reported this morning is an exceptionally large single-day total with major implications for the market. If the sales to China and unknown destinations w...
On Friday, at 6:57 AM, President Donald Trump announced, via a social media post, a 90-day window during which up to 300,000 metric tons of product for ground beef could be imported outside of tariff-rate quotas—a move aimed at bringing down costs for American consumers. This is the secon...
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.