World Perspectives

Recent Asia Analysis

FOB Prices and Freight Rates App (Updated 27 August)

WPI Grain Prices and Freight Rate App Note: you can also visit the app directly by clicking here. Supplemental Information The section below offers a concise view of the options available in the current version of the WPI FOB Price and Freight Rate app, along with a short “How To”...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Market Commentary: Soybeans Firm on Trade Visit; Bullish Feedback Loop for Cattle

The CBOT saw early pressure develop after the USDA Crop Progress and Conditions report was more favorable than expected for corn, soybeans, and wheat. Despite some dryness and uneven weather over the past few weeks, conditions ratings were generally steady, and – surprisingly – in t...

WPI Grain Transportation Report

Dry Bulk markets were mixed this week with Capesize markets falling back after their recent rally while Panamax and Supramax values continue to firm. The Atlantic and Pacific markets saw diverging trends with the former seeing generally steady trade (except for spot positions) while the latter...

soy-oilseeds

WASDE Soybeans - August 2025

USDA reduced their estimate for U.S. soybean production for 2025/26 to 4.3 billion bushels, down 43 million. U.S. ending stocks are forecast at 290 million bushels, down 20 million from last month. The U.S. seasonal average farm price for soybean is unchanged at $10.10 per bushel. The soybean m...

WPI Grain Transportation Report

Dry Bulk Markets  The dry bulk market rally of the past two weeks has ended with rates turning softer this week. The Capesize sector – which lead the recent rally – is now leading the way lower with the Panamax sector in tow. The reason for the weaker rates is that fresh cargo...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Market Commentary: Good Weather Trumps Demand

Markets opened today pretty much where they ended in the overnight and pretty much stayed that way all day, which is to say in the red. And it did so pretty much across the board on lower volume. There was just not any real change in the story of impending big U.S. crops arriving on top of big...

WPI Transportation Report

Dy Bulk Markets  Again this week, the bullish story is the rapid rise in Capesize vessel freight values with demand for Australian iron ore driving most of the rally. The Aussies have seen strong demand for August shipments in particular, which is pushing the forward end of the curve highe...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Market Commentary: Trade Deal News Fails to Excite Ag Markets

The CBOT tried to rally early on Wednesday after traders had the opportunity to react to the U.S.-Japan trade deal, but a lack of details left markets wondering about the true impact on U.S. balance sheets. That meant corn, soybeans, and wheat all settled lower for the day, with favorable Midwe...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Market Commentary: Weather Premia Withdrawn; Trade Talks Make Progress

CBOT futures saw mixed trade Tuesday with summer row crops pulling back amid a favorable Midwest weather forecast while wheat turned higher on slow sales from Russia. Corn and soybeans saw weaker trade develop overnight after the Crop Conditions report was positive and the weather forecasts con...

Tariffs Rock Japan’s Election: Rice, Oil, and Autos

Japanese Prime Minister, Shigeru Ishiba has vowed to stay on as Prime Minister despite his coalition government losing its majority in the upper house after an election on Sunday. Ishiba’s Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) government is a coalition government with its junior coalition partne...

WPI Transportation Report

Dry Bulk Markets The Capesize market is up more than 80 percent from last week’s report due to greatly improved iron ore demand in the Atlantic. There has been a notable increase in inquiries for vessels from Brazil and West Africa for the August/LH September time frame. Additionally, Aus...

soy-oilseeds

WASDE Soybeans - July 2025

USDA’s July 2025 outlook for U.S. soybeans is for increased ending stocks compared to last month: U.S. soybean crush for 2025/26 was raised 50 million bushels to 2.54 billion on the assumption that demand for soybean oil for biofuel would increase. The U.S. seasonal average farm price of...

wheat

AP Quant: WASDE Wheat

WPI offers the following PDF of key supply and demand tables and charts relating to the USDA’s latest WASDE report. This is not an all-inclusive compilation of relevant market factors, only those which we feel are of top priority. WPI will seek to expand the offerings in this report and w...

soy-oilseeds

AP Quant: WASDE Soybeans

WPI offers the following PDF of key supply and demand tables and charts relating to the USDA’s latest WASDE report. This is not an all-inclusive compilation of relevant market factors, only those which we feel are of top priority. WPI will seek to expand the offerings in this report and w...

feed-grains

AP Quant: WASDE Corn

WPI offers the following PDF of key supply and demand tables and charts relating to the USDA’s latest WASDE report. This is not an all-inclusive compilation of relevant market factors, only those which we feel are of top priority. WPI will seek to expand the offerings in this report and w...

Trump Tariff Letters Issued

Over the weekend and yesterday, President Trump sent letters to 14 countries proposing new blanket rate tariffs to go into effect on 1 August unless a trade deal is reached. These tariffs would affect all imports beyond key sectoral tariffs already proposed. In the letters, Trump warned countri...

WPI Transportation Report

Dry Bulk Markets  Dy bulk markets were mixed this week with the Capesize sector sliding lower as geopolitical uncertainty in the Middle East pushed buyers to the sidelines. The Panamax and Supramax markets saw enough support from Asian demand to sustain last week’s gains. Seasonally,...

WPI Transportation Report

Dry Bulk Markets Dry bulk markets were mixed this week with Capesize vessel rates initially pushing higher, but then failing on reduced coal, iron ore, and bauxite demand and shipments. Rates for Capes were particularly sensitive to China’s weakening coal import demand and the country&rsq...

wheat

WASDE Wheat – June 2025

USDA’s outlook for 2025/26 U.S. wheat is for yields to average 51.6 bushels per acre, which is up 0.4 bushels from last year. Hard Red Winter and White account for most of the increase. Total 2025/26 domestic use is a record 977 million bushels, mostly on food use. Exports are projected l...

wheat

AP Quant: WASDE Wheat

WPI offers the following PDF of key supply and demand tables and charts relating to the USDA’s latest WASDE report. This is not an all-inclusive compilation of relevant market factors, only those which we feel are of top priority. WPI will seek to expand the offerings in this report and w...

WPI Transportation Report

Dry-Bulk Markets  In paper dry-bulk markets, the Capesize sector increased slightly this week on stronger demand from miners, but the move was insufficient to support the Panamax or Supramax markets, which turned lower. Most of the dry bulk markets are simply waiting for the economies of C...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Market Commentary: Technical Buying Drives Grains, Livestock Higher

The CBOT turned higher on Wednesday as bulls emerged from a two-day respite as technical conditions remained favorable. Perhaps the biggest news of the day was that U.S. officials are in Japan for trade negotiation discussions, a key development for a historically significant partner and the se...

livestock

Livestock Roundup: High Prices and China Persist

What a difference a year makes! No one will forget how out of balance cattle markets were in 2022 with margins steeply favoring the packer, while feedlots saw their margins shrink away into negative territory.  In fact, it was such a factor that we suffered through a year of misguided atte...

Section 301 Measures Will Fail to Make America Great Again

The U.S. grain export industry – and the transportation sector broadly – are increasingly concerned about the USTR’s proposed Section 301 measures in connection to the “Investigation of China's Targeting of the Maritime, Logistics, and Shipbuilding Sectors for Dominance&...

FOB Prices and Freight Rates App (Updated 27 August)

WPI Grain Prices and Freight Rate App Note: you can also visit the app directly by clicking here. Supplemental Information The section below offers a concise view of the options available in the current version of the WPI FOB Price and Freight Rate app, along with a short “How To”...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Market Commentary: Soybeans Firm on Trade Visit; Bullish Feedback Loop for Cattle

The CBOT saw early pressure develop after the USDA Crop Progress and Conditions report was more favorable than expected for corn, soybeans, and wheat. Despite some dryness and uneven weather over the past few weeks, conditions ratings were generally steady, and – surprisingly – in t...

WPI Grain Transportation Report

Dry Bulk markets were mixed this week with Capesize markets falling back after their recent rally while Panamax and Supramax values continue to firm. The Atlantic and Pacific markets saw diverging trends with the former seeing generally steady trade (except for spot positions) while the latter...

soy-oilseeds

WASDE Soybeans - August 2025

USDA reduced their estimate for U.S. soybean production for 2025/26 to 4.3 billion bushels, down 43 million. U.S. ending stocks are forecast at 290 million bushels, down 20 million from last month. The U.S. seasonal average farm price for soybean is unchanged at $10.10 per bushel. The soybean m...

WPI Grain Transportation Report

Dry Bulk Markets  The dry bulk market rally of the past two weeks has ended with rates turning softer this week. The Capesize sector – which lead the recent rally – is now leading the way lower with the Panamax sector in tow. The reason for the weaker rates is that fresh cargo...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Market Commentary: Good Weather Trumps Demand

Markets opened today pretty much where they ended in the overnight and pretty much stayed that way all day, which is to say in the red. And it did so pretty much across the board on lower volume. There was just not any real change in the story of impending big U.S. crops arriving on top of big...

WPI Transportation Report

Dy Bulk Markets  Again this week, the bullish story is the rapid rise in Capesize vessel freight values with demand for Australian iron ore driving most of the rally. The Aussies have seen strong demand for August shipments in particular, which is pushing the forward end of the curve highe...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Market Commentary: Trade Deal News Fails to Excite Ag Markets

The CBOT tried to rally early on Wednesday after traders had the opportunity to react to the U.S.-Japan trade deal, but a lack of details left markets wondering about the true impact on U.S. balance sheets. That meant corn, soybeans, and wheat all settled lower for the day, with favorable Midwe...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Market Commentary: Weather Premia Withdrawn; Trade Talks Make Progress

CBOT futures saw mixed trade Tuesday with summer row crops pulling back amid a favorable Midwest weather forecast while wheat turned higher on slow sales from Russia. Corn and soybeans saw weaker trade develop overnight after the Crop Conditions report was positive and the weather forecasts con...

Tariffs Rock Japan’s Election: Rice, Oil, and Autos

Japanese Prime Minister, Shigeru Ishiba has vowed to stay on as Prime Minister despite his coalition government losing its majority in the upper house after an election on Sunday. Ishiba’s Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) government is a coalition government with its junior coalition partne...

WPI Transportation Report

Dry Bulk Markets The Capesize market is up more than 80 percent from last week’s report due to greatly improved iron ore demand in the Atlantic. There has been a notable increase in inquiries for vessels from Brazil and West Africa for the August/LH September time frame. Additionally, Aus...

soy-oilseeds

WASDE Soybeans - July 2025

USDA’s July 2025 outlook for U.S. soybeans is for increased ending stocks compared to last month: U.S. soybean crush for 2025/26 was raised 50 million bushels to 2.54 billion on the assumption that demand for soybean oil for biofuel would increase. The U.S. seasonal average farm price of...

wheat

AP Quant: WASDE Wheat

WPI offers the following PDF of key supply and demand tables and charts relating to the USDA’s latest WASDE report. This is not an all-inclusive compilation of relevant market factors, only those which we feel are of top priority. WPI will seek to expand the offerings in this report and w...

soy-oilseeds

AP Quant: WASDE Soybeans

WPI offers the following PDF of key supply and demand tables and charts relating to the USDA’s latest WASDE report. This is not an all-inclusive compilation of relevant market factors, only those which we feel are of top priority. WPI will seek to expand the offerings in this report and w...

feed-grains

AP Quant: WASDE Corn

WPI offers the following PDF of key supply and demand tables and charts relating to the USDA’s latest WASDE report. This is not an all-inclusive compilation of relevant market factors, only those which we feel are of top priority. WPI will seek to expand the offerings in this report and w...

Trump Tariff Letters Issued

Over the weekend and yesterday, President Trump sent letters to 14 countries proposing new blanket rate tariffs to go into effect on 1 August unless a trade deal is reached. These tariffs would affect all imports beyond key sectoral tariffs already proposed. In the letters, Trump warned countri...

WPI Transportation Report

Dry Bulk Markets  Dy bulk markets were mixed this week with the Capesize sector sliding lower as geopolitical uncertainty in the Middle East pushed buyers to the sidelines. The Panamax and Supramax markets saw enough support from Asian demand to sustain last week’s gains. Seasonally,...

WPI Transportation Report

Dry Bulk Markets Dry bulk markets were mixed this week with Capesize vessel rates initially pushing higher, but then failing on reduced coal, iron ore, and bauxite demand and shipments. Rates for Capes were particularly sensitive to China’s weakening coal import demand and the country&rsq...

wheat

WASDE Wheat – June 2025

USDA’s outlook for 2025/26 U.S. wheat is for yields to average 51.6 bushels per acre, which is up 0.4 bushels from last year. Hard Red Winter and White account for most of the increase. Total 2025/26 domestic use is a record 977 million bushels, mostly on food use. Exports are projected l...

wheat

AP Quant: WASDE Wheat

WPI offers the following PDF of key supply and demand tables and charts relating to the USDA’s latest WASDE report. This is not an all-inclusive compilation of relevant market factors, only those which we feel are of top priority. WPI will seek to expand the offerings in this report and w...

WPI Transportation Report

Dry-Bulk Markets  In paper dry-bulk markets, the Capesize sector increased slightly this week on stronger demand from miners, but the move was insufficient to support the Panamax or Supramax markets, which turned lower. Most of the dry bulk markets are simply waiting for the economies of C...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Market Commentary: Technical Buying Drives Grains, Livestock Higher

The CBOT turned higher on Wednesday as bulls emerged from a two-day respite as technical conditions remained favorable. Perhaps the biggest news of the day was that U.S. officials are in Japan for trade negotiation discussions, a key development for a historically significant partner and the se...

livestock

Livestock Roundup: High Prices and China Persist

What a difference a year makes! No one will forget how out of balance cattle markets were in 2022 with margins steeply favoring the packer, while feedlots saw their margins shrink away into negative territory.  In fact, it was such a factor that we suffered through a year of misguided atte...

Section 301 Measures Will Fail to Make America Great Again

The U.S. grain export industry – and the transportation sector broadly – are increasingly concerned about the USTR’s proposed Section 301 measures in connection to the “Investigation of China's Targeting of the Maritime, Logistics, and Shipbuilding Sectors for Dominance&...

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