Lower volume and minimal price changes were featured during the overnight session, which is using the word feature very loosely. Winter wheat futures were up less than 2 cents, corn was about unchanged, and soybeans were down a penny. CME’s final count of corn open interest (O/I) from Wednesday showed a gain of nearly 9,000 contracts, bringing the increase for the first three days of the week to about 46,000 contracts. Total corn O/I now exceeds 1.7 million contracts, the highest volume in several years. Funds are no doubt on at least part of the short side. The question is if funds are not short covering, who is buying corn futures? The sheer cheapness of corn futures prices may have enticed some buying from index funds, but that is...
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
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.