The November WASDE has come and gone, and it produced precious little excitement for grain and soy futures markets. NASS/USDA lowered the estimated national average corn yield to 167.0 BPA which is down 1.5 BPA from October and down 10.5 BPA from last year. This gave an estimated U.S. corn production of 13.661 billion bu for 2019/20. The varied weather challenges that affected most of the main corn producing regions of the country led to a production decline of an estimated 759 million bu from last year even though estimated harvested acreage in 2019 is virtually unchanged from 2018. We should note that in its last weekly crop progress report, USDA estimated that the 2019 corn harvest had advanced (slowly) to 66 percent completed as of 10...
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.