Holiday Season Starts Strong With a pipeline full of protein, seasonal holiday demand started strong with Thanksgiving. As of 31 October, cold storage stocks of turkey were lower than year-ago levels after the second consecutive month of drawdowns. The total pounds in freezers were 96 percent of last year and 79 percent of the previous month. Total red meat in cold storage was 99 percent of both the previous month and October 2017, driven by reductions in pork inventories that left those supplies down 3 percent from September and 5 percent lower than a year ago. Frozen pork was 97 percent of September and 95 percent of last year. Bellies were drawn down to 88 percent of last year’s inventory. Beef, however, was 102 percent of both a...
What You Need to Know Today: President Trump suspended the planned attacks on Iran and announced that the pieces for a framework for peace were in place in a weekend social media post. Iran, however, later said no efforts were underway to conduct negotiations with the U.S., though Oman indicat...
Key Takeaways: E15 expansion would support corn and ethanol demand by increasing domestic biofuel consumption and reducing reliance on petroleum-based fuels. Year-round E15 has gained bipartisan momentum, but the policy remains in legislative limbo as lawmakers continue to negotiate provisions...
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.