Russian Grain Markets: 9-13 April 2018 The key factor influencing the Russian grain markets was the U.S. introduction of new sanctions on 6 April, which caused the ruble rate to drop significantly. Sellers immediately raised their offer prices, and bid prices also grew but at a slower rate. The price increases were mainly in the European part of Russia, while the changes in Siberia were minimal. The milling wheat export price climbed $4.00/MT to $210/MT FOB Black Sea. Meanwhile, purchase prices at the seaports rose significantly (in RUB expression) to $195-206/MT CPT-Black Sea port. The feed barley export price was stable at $220/MT FOB, but the CPT-Black Sea port price grew (in RUB expression) to $206/MT. The average corn export price inc...
What You Need to Know Today: Russia rejected calls for a ceasefire in the Black Sea, including a proposal to halt attacks on civilian shipping that could help restore grain flows from Ukrainian ports. Tyson Foods announced plans to permanently close its Joslin, Illinois, beef processing facili...
We have described the long-term investment climate in crop and livestock production, using data primarily from the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA). The data provided background on the current investment climate and outlook for agricultural capital formation. Our conclusion was that investment...
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.