The CBOT largely followed its existing trends into the weekend, which meant rallies in soymeal and soybeans, new contract lows in wheat, and sideways trade in corn and soyoil. Live cattle futures finally posted what WPI views as an overdue correction from Monday’s collapse with steady/firmer trade in the cash market. There was little fresh news for the day to drive markets, but rumors that China is cancelling Brazilian soy purchases added strength to the soy complex while the resumption of Ukrainian shipments pressured wheat. Simmering in the background is the Israel-Gaza conflict, which shouldn’t have direct impact on commodity markets (other than fertilizer) but could very quickly shift risk-on/risk-off trade mentality and add...
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
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.