Regional Updates MEDITERRANEAN/MIDDLE EAST/NORTH AFRICA Saudi Arabia’s Almarai Dairy has seen its last quarter of 2020 sales drop by 46 percent but profits for the period were up by 7 percent. Profit growth was due mainly to increased margin on export business to Egypt, Jordan and other regional countries. The company also has poultry interests and this area showed profit growth of 30 percent. Abu Dhabi is to construct a new grain storage and processing facility in Khalifa port. The facility is planned to have 300,000 MT of grain storage. The facility will be built by Anchorage Investment and managed by National Feed and will be on land leased for 50 years from Abu Dhabi Ports. Once completed it will produce wheat flour...
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 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
Forecasting developments in production agriculture
On behalf of a private U.S. agricultural technology provider, WPI’s team generated an econometric model to forecast the movement of concentrated corn production north and west from the traditional U.S. Corn Belt. WPI’s model has subsequently provided quantitative support to a multi-million-dollar investment into short-season corn variety development. WPI’s methodology included a series of interviews with regional grain elevators and seed consultants. Emphasizing outreach and communication with stakeholders who possess intimate sectoral knowledge – on-the-ground insights – is a regular component of WPI’s methodologies, made possible by WPI’s ever-growing network of industry contacts.