On Friday, the Colonial Pipeline, which is the largest refined product pipeline in the U.S., running 5,500 miles from Texas to New Jersey, was attacked by ransomware, assumed to be launched by hackers in Russia. The pipeline was forced to close. The company is slowly reopening lateral pipelines to tank farms, but primary operations are still halted. The Colonial line carries 2.5 million barrels per day of refined product such as gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel from the Gulf Coast to the East Coast, which amounts to about 45 percent of the fuel supply on the East Coast. Given the route from Texas to New Jersey, the key impact areas would be in the southeast. It takes 13-18 days to move fuel through the entirety of the pipeline, so the southe...
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.