The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) imports 40 MMT of grain each year, over half of which is wheat. Wheat represents half the calories consumed in countries like Tunisia. Food self-sufficiency is often raised in the context of Japan, but 60 percent of the region's consumed calories are imported, and the share is forecast to continue rising. A World Bank project emanating out of the food price shock of 2008 and focused on better managing future volatility has some good and wrong answers. First, the good.Anyone trading wheat in the MENA region is aware of the logistics hurdles. The World Bank estimates that it takes $40/MT and 78 days to move a shipment of wheat into the region. By contrast, it is $11/MT and 18 days to get a shipment of...
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...
Key Takeaways: India is excluding sugarcane juice, sugar syrup, and B-heavy molasses from its 2026/27 fuel ethanol procurement program to protect domestic sugar supplies, potentially shifting additional demand toward corn and rice. India’s corn consumption for ethanol has surged from jus...
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.