General Comments The proposed acquisition of NYSE Euronext by the InterContinental Exchange (ICE) is a continuation of the pattern of consolidation among derivative and equity exchanges that has been underway for several years. Essentially, these consolidations are efforts to combine or add the trading volumes of 2 or more exchanges as a means of making up for lost revenues due to user pressure on trading costs. Increasing volume to help offset low margins is a trend present in the grain trade for many decades. Whether or not the acquisition will pass anti-trust inspection in Europe and the U.S. is an unanswered question, but at least the two organizations have very little overlap, which was not the case in other recent proposals to pu...
Yesterday, Alberta held a referendum on whether to begin the process toward independence from Canada. With more than one million votes counted as of early Tuesday morning, around 77 percent supported remaining in Canada, and 23 percent voted to start the process of separation, according to unof...
Mediterranean/Middle East/North Africa/Africa – MEA Region Pakistan’s smaller wheat farmers have been holding protests to complain about the lack of a support price for wheat and the potential expansion of GMO crop production. They also want the reinstatement of PASSCO, the governme...
What You Need to Know Today: Harvest pressure in the U.S. sent corn and soybeans lower as supplies increased and there were signs USDA’s upward revisions to yields in the October WASDE could be close to right. The conflict between Russia and Ukraine escalated over the weekend, with Ukrai...
From WPI Consulting
Infrastructure investment due diligence
On behalf of a Canadian oilseed processer WPI's team provided market analysis, econometric modeling and financial due diligence in support of a $24 million-dollar investment in a Ukrainian crush plant. Consistent with WPI's findings, local production to supply the plant and the facility's output have expanded exponentially since the investment. WPI has conducted parallel work on behalf of U.S., South American and European clients, both private and public, in the agri-food space.