Prior to GOI’s elimination of the import duty in early December, wheat prices had reached a high of $354/MT in the New Delhi spot market. They have eased considerably to $291/MT, but imports still remain feasible for one region. Domestic Sugar Prices Expected to Firm with No Change in Duties The expected rise in sugar prices over the next few months as a result of the sugarcane scarcity (see Ag Perspectives, 16 December) appears to be underway. In the last 15 days, they have climbed to $542/MT in Kolhapur, the key production belt in Maharashtra. That is a 2.74 percent increase from the peak of $533/MT in November 2016. Meanwhile, prices are much higher in Kolkata at $570/MT. As of 15 December, India’s sugar production totaled 5.329 MMT, a...
What You Need to Know Today: Commodities were mostly lower across the board today after yesterday’s Federal Reserve meeting hinted at a potential interest rate hike later in 2026. The dollar index reached its highest level in over a year, and a strong dollar makes U.S. agricultural expor...
Key Market Insights Geopolitical Limbo: Geopolitical risk remained a key driver across global commodity markets today. President Trump stated that the Iran memorandum of understanding is not yet final and warned that military action could resume if negotiations fail. Both sides continue w...
Illuminating the value of technical research
On behalf of a commodity producer organization, WPI evaluated the outputs from a project that featured a $5 million investment into technical research over multiple years. WPI’s team captured the results of this extensive effort and synthesized them for presentation to the organization’s governing board; among the findings uncovered and presented for the first time was the development of genomic traits proven, via rigorous testing, to provide crop yield advantages of 50 percent or more to U.S. farmers in times of drought. Capturing measurable results from long-term efforts can be challenging. Educating clients on the dynamics of success measurement when quantifiable results are not readily available requires deep client-consultant collaboration and an ability to consider both near- and long-term client aspirations with market/policy dynamics – attributes that WPI brings to every consulting engagement.