OPEC members, especially Saudi Arabia and Iraq, actually increased production in advance of the 1 January 2017 implementation of their agreement to reduce volumes. In turn, those actions affect the U.S. crude supply.During the last quarter of 2016, countries in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) internally negotiated an approximate 4.5 percent reduction in crude oil production for each member (see Ag Perspectives 12 December). According to an OPEC press statement at the time, “The global oil market has witnessed a serious challenge of imbalance and volatility pressured mainly from the supply side.” The agreement was finalized on 30 November 2016 and implemented on 1 January 2017 with production scheduled to be cu...
What You Need to Know Today: Russia rejected calls for a ceasefire in the Black Sea, including a proposal to halt attacks on civilian shipping that could help restore grain flows from Ukrainian ports. Tyson Foods announced plans to permanently close its Joslin, Illinois, beef processing facili...
The big news in the cattle markets yesterday was Tyson Foods’ move to close two more beef plants. One of them, the Joslin, Illinois, plant was shuttered immediately after the announcement. The other, in Eagle Mountain, Utah, is a case-ready plant that does not slaughter cattle. Tyson also...
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released the Consumer Price Index (CPI) on Wednesday. In July, the CPI rose 0.1 percent, seasonally adjusted, and rose 3.4 percent over the last 12 months, not seasonally adjusted. The index for all items less food and energy, or the “core” infla...
From WPI Consulting
Accountability and a comprehensive approach to export programming
WPI’s team helped construct a strategic approach to develop, implement, and track promotional activities in 8 key regions across the globe for an agricultural export association. With continued progress measurement and strategic advisory services from WPI, the association has seen its ROI from investments in promotional programming increase by 44 percent over the past 5 years. Not only does this type of holistic approach to organizational strategy provide measurable results to track and analyze, it fosters top-down and bottom-up organizational accountability.