Bilateral Postponement The upcoming meeting between President Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping is being delayed about “a month or so” at the request of Trump. He says he needs the time to focus on the war in Iran. Chinese leaders may also benefit from the extra time to assess the Middle East situation. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi laid out five fundamental principles on the conflict, including respect for national sovereignty, the pursuit of political solutions, and constructive actions by major powers. In truth, the Middle East distraction helps Beijing. It will find and buy oil at the same time that its competitor, the United States, gets bogged down in a very complicated military struggle. U.S. – China Boar...
In a recent social media post, R-CALF unveiled its latest cattle market plan: “contracts that bind producers before establishing a base price, then tie that price to future negotiated cash transactions, should be prohibited.” That proposal aligns with recent legislation by Represent...
Key Takeaways: Russia recently said it would convert existing export terminals in the Baltic and Arctic Seas to handle grain as the Black and Azov Seas remain closed to maritime trade. Futures markets reacted negatively to this news, but does the conversion matter to short-term and long-...
There was encouraging news over the weekend: the White House may reject the misguided idea on Capitol Hill to ban U.S. diesel exports. What WPI has noted previously was perhaps best put by a Department of Energy report of 2022, under the Biden administration: Petroleum liquids markets are globa...
Key Takeaways: Comparative advantage encourages countries to specialize in goods they can produce at a lower opportunity cost and rely on trade for others. Differences in climate, land, infrastructure, and technology help determine where agricultural commodities can be produced most efficientl...
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.