World Perspectives
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NAFTA Updating, Morality, Conflicts

Updating NAFTA Major companies in the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) countries have written the three political leaders (Obama, Harper and Pena Nieto) asking that the trade agreement be updated to reflect how much the international trade landscape has changed in the last 20-plus years. Actually, a key policy area that needs updating is sugar. Because NAFTA has very restrictive policies on sugar, production in North America has remained stagnant (see graph below) at the same time world demand has grown by 35 percent. Given the parity situation in all three countries, liberalizing the borders seems less risky now than it might have seemed back in 1992.Separately, Oxfam and other activists are upset that investors have respon...

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feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Export Sales

Export Sales and Shipments for April 18-24, 2025. Wheat: Net sales of 72,000 metric tons (MT) for 2024/2025 were down noticeably from the previous week and down 24 percent from the prior 4-week average. Export shipments of 491,700 MT were up 3 percent from the previous week and 9 percent from t...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Market Commentary: Wheat Remains Weak, Corn and Soybeans Hold Their Own

It was modest volume trading grain and oilseeds today. Again, the lack of any new fundamental news has traders keeping their powder dry. USDA’s May WASDE is likely to boost estimates for corn and soybean exports, but that is still nearly two weeks away.   Instead, today’s...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Summary of Futures

Jul 25 Corn closed at $4.7225/bushel, down $0.0325 from yesterday's close.  Jul 25 Wheat closed at $5.31/bushel, up $0.0025 from yesterday's close.  Jul 25 Soybeans closed at $10.5025/bushel, up $0.0575 from yesterday's close.  Jul 25 Soymeal closed at $294.3/short ton, down $3.7...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Export Sales

Export Sales and Shipments for April 18-24, 2025. Wheat: Net sales of 72,000 metric tons (MT) for 2024/2025 were down noticeably from the previous week and down 24 percent from the prior 4-week average. Export shipments of 491,700 MT were up 3 percent from the previous week and 9 percent from t...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Market Commentary: Wheat Remains Weak, Corn and Soybeans Hold Their Own

It was modest volume trading grain and oilseeds today. Again, the lack of any new fundamental news has traders keeping their powder dry. USDA’s May WASDE is likely to boost estimates for corn and soybean exports, but that is still nearly two weeks away.   Instead, today’s...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Summary of Futures

Jul 25 Corn closed at $4.7225/bushel, down $0.0325 from yesterday's close.  Jul 25 Wheat closed at $5.31/bushel, up $0.0025 from yesterday's close.  Jul 25 Soybeans closed at $10.5025/bushel, up $0.0575 from yesterday's close.  Jul 25 Soymeal closed at $294.3/short ton, down $3.7...

livestock

Livestock Round Up: Broiler Outlook 2025

Broiler fundamentals continue to be favorable largely due to tight beef supplies and a more favorable value proposition versus the rest of the beef and pork markets. Prices have continued their gains since last summer, and with below historical average feed prices, processing margins have expan...

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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.

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