The CBOT ended a volatile week with an exceptionally volatile day that included wheat settling 75 cents lower at the bottom of its expanded daily trading limits. Corn and soybeans posted heavy losses as well after Russian President Putin agreed to meet with the Ukrainian government. The news was taken as a sign of a change in Russia’s aggressive approach and sent global markets quickly reversing this week’s trade. Crude oil and grain markets fell sharply while stocks rallied, and the U.S. dollar gave back 59 bps of this week’s gains. The CBOT’s latest open interest data suggests Thursday’s rally was largely due to liquidation of short positions amid an intensifying short squeeze. Open interest in corn fu...
What You Need to Know Today: Russia rejected calls for a ceasefire in the Black Sea, including a proposal to halt attacks on civilian shipping that could help restore grain flows from Ukrainian ports. Tyson Foods announced plans to permanently close its Joslin, Illinois, beef processing facili...
The big news in the cattle markets yesterday was Tyson Foods’ move to close two more beef plants. One of them, the Joslin, Illinois, plant was shuttered immediately after the announcement. The other, in Eagle Mountain, Utah, is a case-ready plant that does not slaughter cattle. Tyson also...
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released the Consumer Price Index (CPI) on Wednesday. In July, the CPI rose 0.1 percent, seasonally adjusted, and rose 3.4 percent over the last 12 months, not seasonally adjusted. The index for all items less food and energy, or the “core” infla...
From WPI Consulting
Accountability and a comprehensive approach to export programming
WPI’s team helped construct a strategic approach to develop, implement, and track promotional activities in 8 key regions across the globe for an agricultural export association. With continued progress measurement and strategic advisory services from WPI, the association has seen its ROI from investments in promotional programming increase by 44 percent over the past 5 years. Not only does this type of holistic approach to organizational strategy provide measurable results to track and analyze, it fosters top-down and bottom-up organizational accountability.