Russian businesses were mainly closed during their holiday period (31 December – 7 January) limiting activity on the Russian markets. Our in-depth analysis of those markets will resume next week. Russia: Grain and Oil Crops Export Update According to Rosselkhoznadzor, from the beginning of MY 2019-2020 - 24 December, Russia exported 21.2 MMT of wheat, 2.3 MMT of barley and 1.6 MMT of corn. As for oil crops, soybean exports amounted to 578,000 MT and sunflower seed exports were 440,000 MT. Sea exports: During 20-26 December, grain export from the seaports of Russia amounted to 708,000 MT, including 586,000 MT of wheat, 55,000 MT of barley and 66,000 MT of corn. The largest importers were Turkey (201,000 MT), Bangladesh (125,00...
Key Takeaways: Dry bulk markets remain mixed with Capesize vessels seeing continued pressure from weaker demand while fixtures and rate strength gradually increases towards the smaller vessel classes. Tanker markets are pulling back from their recent highs as tonnage moves out of the Mid...
Inflation is back in the driver’s seat, and agriculture is getting pulled in two directions. A stronger dollar is pressuring grains despite fresh Chinese buying, while renewed Middle East attacks lift crude oil. Higher energy prices can support commodities, but they also raise expenses an...
From WPI Consulting
Illuminating the value of technical research
On behalf of a commodity producer organization, WPI evaluated the outputs from a project that featured a $5 million investment into technical research over multiple years. WPI’s team captured the results of this extensive effort and synthesized them for presentation to the organization’s governing board; among the findings uncovered and presented for the first time was the development of genomic traits proven, via rigorous testing, to provide crop yield advantages of 50 percent or more to U.S. farmers in times of drought. Capturing measurable results from long-term efforts can be challenging. Educating clients on the dynamics of success measurement when quantifiable results are not readily available requires deep client-consultant collaboration and an ability to consider both near- and long-term client aspirations with market/policy dynamics – attributes that WPI brings to every consulting engagement.