Sino-American Mirage (Shèn jĭng) The reports out of Beijing are that U.S. and Chinese negotiators have made great progress in their trade talks, enough to extend them for a day. China continues to make positive gestures like soybean purchases and new biotech trait approvals (canola, corn and soybeans). The Americans claim to have hard ambitions when it comes to the Middle Kingdom’s necessary structural changes and will insist on an enforcement mechanism with appropriate punishments for failure. It is a complicated negotiation, but past is likely prologue. Biotech traits were last approved in July 2017, and then it was only due to intensive pressure from Washington. Beijing is highly paternalistic regarding its economy, which...
What You Need to Know Today: Commodities were mostly lower across the board today after yesterday’s Federal Reserve meeting hinted at a potential interest rate hike later in 2026. The dollar index reached its highest level in over a year, and a strong dollar makes U.S. agricultural expor...
Tomorrow is the Juneteenth federal holiday, and the USDA, along with the rest of the federal government and the CME, will be closed, so the monthly Cattle on Feed report was released a day early. The total number of cattle on feed in feedlots with 1,000 head or more capacity on 1 June amounted...
From WPI Consulting
Infrastructure investment due diligence
On behalf of a Canadian oilseed processer WPI's team provided market analysis, econometric modeling and financial due diligence in support of a $24 million-dollar investment in a Ukrainian crush plant. Consistent with WPI's findings, local production to supply the plant and the facility's output have expanded exponentially since the investment. WPI has conducted parallel work on behalf of U.S., South American and European clients, both private and public, in the agri-food space.