Palm oil futures prices rose today to a two-year high as a result of increased exports and expectations that production will decline because of reduced rainfall associated with El Nino. Meanwhile, tightening palm oil supplies are having a positive impact elsewhere. U.S. DDGS Exports to China Continue to Decline China’s DDGS imports fell to 180,337 MT last month, 38 percent below January and the lowest level since February 2015. The reason for the decrease is the ongoing Chinese anti-dumping investigation to determine if U.S. DDGS exports are being sold below market prices. China is by far the world’s largest DDGS importer.Buyers in China are reluctant to import U.S. DDGS because they run the risk of having anti-dumping duties collected re...
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.
What You Need to Know Today: Agricultural commodities were mostly lower on the day, with red-hot soyoil a notable exception. Export sales were a bit underwhelming, particularly for corn with export sales down 52 percent week-over-week. The weakness in ag markets tracked crude oil weakness wit...
With the war in Iran affecting fuel and fertilizer prices, higher tariffs, weak commodity prices, ag labor constraints, and other factors, farm bankruptcies are now at a 6-year high, a signal of growing stress. During the month of April, 62 Chapter 12 bankruptcies were filed, which is a 1...
Food Inflation The Open Markets Institute, which is notably funded by several “anonymous” donors and liberal foundations, obtained a guest editorial in the New York Times in which they blame agribusiness concentration for higher grocery prices. This is their schtick and it is politi...