Macro Trends China’s Ag Imports Climb Nearly 13 Percent in 2017 With the conclusion of China’s Lunar New Year celebrations, its Ministry of Commerce has started to release year-end data. Farm-related products entering the country in 2017 were valued at $125.9 billion, up 12.8 percent from 2016 and 6.8 percent of the total value of all imports for the year. Among the leading subsectors, oilseed imports amounted to $43 billion or roughly one-third of the total value of all agricultural imports, a 16.2 percent increase from the previous year. By comparison, all Chinese imports were up 15.9 percent versus 2016. Livestock and livestock product imports were valued at $25.6 billion in 2017, a 9.5 percent improvement from 2016. Impor...
What You Need to Know Today: U.S. and Chinese officials are expected to discuss agriculture and non-tariff trade barriers ahead of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Washington later this month, potentially opening the door to additional U.S. agricultural purchases or improved marke...
The U.S. will observe Labor Day on Monday, 7 September. U.S. markets and the WPI office will be closed that day. The next edition of Ag Perspectives will be published Tuesday, 8 September...
Key Takeaways: Drought and changes to the multi-year trend in cow slaughter and retention have the potential to dramatically alter beef trim supplies and pricing, and WPI specifically models three different drought scenarios for fall 2026. Based on our models, WPI expects 90 percent lean...
From WPI Consulting
Forecasting developments in production agriculture
On behalf of a private U.S. agricultural technology provider, WPI’s team generated an econometric model to forecast the movement of concentrated corn production north and west from the traditional U.S. Corn Belt. WPI’s model has subsequently provided quantitative support to a multi-million-dollar investment into short-season corn variety development. WPI’s methodology included a series of interviews with regional grain elevators and seed consultants. Emphasizing outreach and communication with stakeholders who possess intimate sectoral knowledge – on-the-ground insights – is a regular component of WPI’s methodologies, made possible by WPI’s ever-growing network of industry contacts.