Regional Updates MEDITERRANEAN/MIDDLE EAST/NORTH AFRICA Regional buyers/importers of wheat continue to watch the Russia situation very closely. As can be seen by the Russia wheat export numbers further down in this report, Russia is a very significant wheat supplier to the Middle East and Africa. Russia has now decided to allocate the wheat export quota by exporting company with about 70 percent of the export quota going to the “top ten” companies, including GTCS, Aston, Solaris, Viterra, Cargill, OZK, Zerno-Trade, LDC, AST, and Artis-Agro. The recent FAO report on Iraq shows grain production up by 32 percent to almost 9 MMT: 6.2 MMT wheat, 1.8 MMT barley, and 300,000 MT maize. 2020/21 grain production is more than doub...
Illuminating the value of technical research
On behalf of a commodity producer organization, WPI evaluated the outputs from a project that featured a $5 million investment into technical research over multiple years. WPI’s team captured the results of this extensive effort and synthesized them for presentation to the organization’s governing board; among the findings uncovered and presented for the first time was the development of genomic traits proven, via rigorous testing, to provide crop yield advantages of 50 percent or more to U.S. farmers in times of drought. Capturing measurable results from long-term efforts can be challenging. Educating clients on the dynamics of success measurement when quantifiable results are not readily available requires deep client-consultant collaboration and an ability to consider both near- and long-term client aspirations with market/policy dynamics – attributes that WPI brings to every consulting engagement.
Key Market Insights The broad market is locked in on this week’s Trump-Xi meeting in Beijing, but this is no longer just a trade summit. Increasingly, the meeting is becoming tied directly to Iran, energy security, and the growing global economic fallout from disruptions through the Strai...