Regional Updates MIDDLE EAST/MEDITERRANEAN COMMENTS According to the EU’s latest Monitoring Agricultural Resources (MARS) report, drought conditions in eastern Morocco and western Algeria have adversely impacted cereal crops, but eastern Algeria, Tunisia, Libya and Egypt have all had a good to very good season. The latest USDA-FAS report on Algeria has forecast its 2019/20 wheat production will be the same as last year’s at about 4 MMT with total wheat imports at 8 MMT. It expects barley production to reach 2 MMT, approximately the normal level, while barley imports will only be about 100,000 MT. Algeria does have a long-term program to reduce wheat imports, but they will need to continue for use in bread production since mos...
What You Need to Know Today: Commodities were mostly lower across the board today after yesterday’s Federal Reserve meeting hinted at a potential interest rate hike later in 2026. The dollar index reached its highest level in over a year, and a strong dollar makes U.S. agricultural expor...
Key Market Insights Geopolitical Limbo: Geopolitical risk remained a key driver across global commodity markets today. President Trump stated that the Iran memorandum of understanding is not yet final and warned that military action could resume if negotiations fail. Both sides continue w...
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.