World Perspectives

Short Supply Chain Fallacy; Border Tax Mayhem

Short Supply Chain Fallacy Buy local is tribal but has quaint, emotive appeal. The EU is giving policy support to short supply chains, provided they do not harm intra-EU trade. But do they work in practice? The consultancy Agriculture Stratégies examined the economics and found the following:

Middlemen serve the functions of processing, transporting, marketing and other tasks. Reducing the number of middlemen either reduces the value-added (e.g., no processing), or increases the workload of the farmer. The farmer must become butcher, the baker, and the candlestick-maker all at the same time. 

Investment is required by the producer to execute tasks previously accomplished by the middlemen.

Contrary to the subjecti...

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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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