Phase One Breakdown Ukraine just sold 15 cargoes of soybeans to China and officials in Kiev say they do not expect the coronavirus to impact their grain exports to the Middle Kingdom. Yet, China has forewarned that the coronavirus may cause it to reduce ag purchases from the U.S. Further dampening prospects of U.S. sales is a Beijing announcement that it is increasing subsidies to become more self-sufficient in soybeans. China’s Phase One purchase agreement with the U.S. does not begin until 15 February and admittedly, American soybeans are priced higher than Brazil’s for delivery this spring. Still, White House economic advisor Larry Kudlow warns that failure to meet Phase One commitments could result in “proportionate a...
Key Market Insights The broad market is locked in on this week’s Trump-Xi meeting in Beijing, but this is no longer just a trade summit. Increasingly, the meeting is becoming tied directly to Iran, energy security, and the growing global economic fallout from disruptions through the Strai...
From WPI Consulting
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.