Regional News European grocery stores have been targeted by cybersecurity attacks this week, with major retailers in France and the Netherlands affected. In France, major grocers, including Carrefour, Intermarché, and Coopérative U, all suffered attacks in which freezer and refrigerator thermostats were set to 50 degrees Celsius. The “unprecedented” attacks have cost “tens of millions of euros nationwide,” per Intermarché CEO Thierry Cotillard. In a so-far separate but related attack, Dutch grocer Albert Heijn and its affiliated stores (including liquor store Gall & Gall and beauty supplier Etos) suffered an attack that crippled supplier logistics and left shelves bare across parts of t...
Inflation is back in the driver’s seat, and agriculture is getting pulled in two directions. A stronger dollar is pressuring grains despite fresh Chinese buying, while renewed Middle East attacks lift crude oil. Higher energy prices can support commodities, but they also raise expenses an...
Key Takeaways: The EPA has proposed reallocating 770 million RINs associated with Small Refinery Exemptions (SREs), either splitting the volume equally between 2026 and 2027 or assigning the full amount to 2027. The agency granted exemptions covering 1.76 billion RINs for 2025, substantially e...
Russian Grain Markets: 5–9 October 2026 During the week in review Russian grain market remained relatively stable. The market finally realized that Black Sea trade may not resume soon so most of the trade calculations were done in the direction of Baltic Sea, Caspian Sea, Barents Sea and...
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.