World Perspectives

Inflation Up – and Down – Depending on the Benchmark

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 0.5 percent in January on a seasonally adjusted basis, after increasing 0.1 percent in December, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Over the last 12 months, the all-items index increased 6.4 percent before seasonal adjustment. This was the smallest 12-month increase since the 12 month period ending October 2021.  The Fed follows the “core” inflation index – excluding food and energy, the most volatile categories. The core inflation index, less food and energy, rose 5.6 percent over the last 12 months, its smallest 12-month increase since December 2021. However, food and energy are key components of consumer spending, and the energy index increased 8.7 percent for t...

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WPI Crop Progress and Conditions App (Updated 30 June)

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Summary of Futures

Sep 25 Corn closed at $4.0925/bushel, down $0.0225 from yesterday's close.  Sep 25 Wheat closed at $5.3825/bushel, down $0.025 from yesterday's close.  Nov 25 Soybeans closed at $10.27/bushel, up $0.0225 from yesterday's close.  Aug 25 Soymeal closed at $275.8/short ton, up $0.2...

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From WPI Consulting

Communicating importance of value-added products

Facing increasing pressure to quantify the value of export promotion efforts to investors, a U.S. industry organization retained WPI to develop a quantitative model that better communicated the importance of exports. The resulting model concluded that value-added meat exports contributed $0.45 cents per bushel to the price of corn, increasing support for that sector’s financial support of WPI’s client. In addition to serving the red meat industry with this type of analysis, WPI has generated similar deliverables for the U.S. soybean and poultry/egg industries.

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