Macroeconomics Food Costs See Another Big Jump in August Food prices across China rose by 6.1 percent last month, marking the second straight increase of more than 6 percent from prices a year ago. The uptick in July and August are the two strongest surges in the past 22 months. Ongoing pandemic lockdowns, high energy prices, and surging agricultural commodity costs have all contributed to the about-face in the cost food over the summer. August’s figures also marked the fifth consecutive month that the average price for food was up from a year ago. Leading the way was the cost of pork, which saw strong gains last month and rose by 22.4 percent compared to August 2021. It was followed by the prices for fresh fruit, cooking oil, fres...
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.