India is now the world's largest importer of palm oil and Indonesia the world's largest exporter. Therefore, it is of some consequence that the two countries are now battling over which should refine the palm oil Indians consume. Watching the battle closely are Malaysia, the second-largest exporter of palm oil, and several countries that also are major palm oil importers, including China.Traditionally, India has imported mostly crude palm oil that was then refined by the country's large refining sector. However, last October, the Indonesian government realigned its export taxes on palm oil by raising the tax rates for crude palm oil and reducing them for refined palm oil. The result has been a sharp increase in Indian imports of less expe...
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...
Tomorrow is the Juneteenth federal holiday, and the USDA, along with the rest of the federal government and the CME, will be closed, so the monthly Cattle on Feed report was released a day early. The total number of cattle on feed in feedlots with 1,000 head or more capacity on 1 June amounted...
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.