World Perspectives
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Sugar Volatility

It has been a volatile year for global sugar prices. They hit 27.95 cents/pound on 6 November 2023 – the highest since 1980. They fell 30 percent to 19.69 cents/pound in May and now are running around 20.26 cents/pound.   It is difficult to draw a complete supply/demand imbalance as the rationale. Global sugar production has been expanding by 1.21 percent per year, but over the same period, global ending stocks have declined by 1.46 percent per year. Yet human consumption has only been increasing by 0.57 percent per year. It would be easy to blame biofuels except the change in biofuels demand is not that different than the change from human demand. The area sown to both sugar beets and sugarcane has been relatively static a...

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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.

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