Researchers in Kenya have said that planting GM maize could save up to $90 million annually in crop losses as well as lead to an additional production of 400,000 MT. A new such seed developed there is very effective against a cause of those losses and could be in the market by 2019 if the government takes certain action. Regional Updates MIDDLE EAST/MEDITERRANEAN COMMENTS The Egyptian pound (LE) rate versus the USD dropped again to 17.50 or so over the weekend. It had moved higher during the week to about 15.50 when the International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan was said to be approved. The demand for USD by corporations has been very strong, but the banks are still quite short of that currency. It is reported that $1.5 billion have been exc...
What You Need to Know Today: After a period of limited activity, USDA reported a sizeable 613 KMT in soybean export sales, including 330 KMT to China and 283 KMT to unknown destinations, potentially also China. The purchases represent a meaningful pickup in demand and bring China closer to ful...
Key Takeaways: Consumer spending is a key driver of the U.S. economy, and the latest retail sales data indicate that spending remains robust despite inflation. In September, total retail and food service sales rose more than 6 percent year-over-year, with food service spending up 7 percent and...
The Trump import plan for 300,000 MT of beef supplies used for ground beef, i.e., lean trim, from September through November has, according to Secretary Brooke Rollins, brought some relief to beef prices. The Executive Order states that the Secretary of Agriculture will analyze and review the m...
From WPI Consulting
Communicating importance of value-added products
Facing increasing pressure to quantify the value of export promotion efforts to investors, a U.S. industry organization retained WPI to develop a quantitative model that better communicated the importance of exports. The resulting model concluded that value-added meat exports contributed $0.45 cents per bushel to the price of corn, increasing support for that sector’s financial support of WPI’s client. In addition to serving the red meat industry with this type of analysis, WPI has generated similar deliverables for the U.S. soybean and poultry/egg industries.