Soymeal Inventory Rises for First Time in Five Weeks: Clearance delays involving new shipments of imported soybeans due to a backlog in the issuance of GMO certificates helped push inventories up last week for the first time since the last week of September. In addition, downstream demand slowed somewhat as the livestock sector has been experiencing a slight lull here in early winter. China’s total estimated soymeal inventory stood at 637,700 MT as of 17 November 2017, 84,600 MT (+15.3 percent) higher than the previous week and up 181,400 MT (+39.8 percent) versus the same week a year ago. Across China, all reporting regions showed week-on-week gains with the largest relative increase, 8,500 MT (+114.9 percent) to 15,900 MT, occurrin...
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...
The big news in the cattle markets yesterday was Tyson Foods’ move to close two more beef plants. One of them, the Joslin, Illinois, plant was shuttered immediately after the announcement. The other, in Eagle Mountain, Utah, is a case-ready plant that does not slaughter cattle. Tyson also...
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released the Consumer Price Index (CPI) on Wednesday. In July, the CPI rose 0.1 percent, seasonally adjusted, and rose 3.4 percent over the last 12 months, not seasonally adjusted. The index for all items less food and energy, or the “core” infla...
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.