Chinese Bird Flu Impacting Soy Market U.S. soybean futures prices fell this week because of concerns that H7N9 will result in a decline in poultry consumption and soymeal demand. The outbreak also caused the stock market and airline stocks to decline. Thus far, at least 16 people have been infected by the new strain of avian influenza, and at least six have died. Because of the flu's high mortality rate, there are fears that it could spread and cause Chinese consumers to panic. There has been no evidence of human-to-human spread of the disease since all those infected have been in contact with poultry, but the concern is that it will begin to be spread by human-to-human contact.Soymeal demand already was weak in China before the flu outb...
Key Takeaways: Brazil confirmed a Newcastle disease outbreak at a commercial turkey farm in Santa Catarina on 18 October, raising concerns about potential disruptions to poultry exports despite the outbreak being confined to a single facility thus far. Mexico and Malaysia have imposed nationwi...
Yesterday, Alberta held a referendum on whether to begin the process toward independence from Canada. With more than one million votes counted as of early Tuesday morning, around 77 percent supported remaining in Canada, and 23 percent voted to start the process of separation, according to unof...
Mediterranean/Middle East/North Africa/Africa – MEA Region Pakistan’s smaller wheat farmers have been holding protests to complain about the lack of a support price for wheat and the potential expansion of GMO crop production. They also want the reinstatement of PASSCO, the governme...
From WPI Consulting
Weighing in on strategic realignment
WPI’s team was retained by the governing board of a U.S. industry organization to review a decision, reached by vote, to invest significant assets into the development and management of an export trading company. WPI’s team conducted a formal review of this decision and concluded that the current level of market saturation would limit the benefits of the investment. Based on WPI’s analysis and recommended actions, the board subsequently reversed its decision and undertook a strategic planning effort to identify more impactful investments. On behalf of numerous clients, WPI has not only assisted in identifying strategic paths but also advised their implementation.