Failing to Learn from History, Ghana Locks Down Cocoa Acres
Key Takeaways: Ghana’s new law classifies all cocoa plantations as “protected farms,” which carries significant implications for farmers. Chief among these implications is the inability to switch area under cocoa to other crops, even when economic or biological conditio...
Middle East, Mediterranean, and Africa Regional Analysis
Mediterranean/Middle East/North Africa/Africa – MEA Region Egypt, at the end of July, is once again the largest importer of maize from Brazil at about 2.6 million MT from January to July — followed by Iran at 1.1 MMT, Algeria at 665,000 MT, Saudi Arabia at 435,000 MT, and Israel at...
Tightening Supplies and Strong Demand Fuel a Grain Market Rally
Key Takeaways: Corn and soybean prices rallied sharply last week as declining U.S. production expectations collided with strong demand, raising the prospect of tighter supplies and leaving the market with a smaller margin for further yield losses. The USDA’s lower August yield estimates...
Transportation Perspectives - 27 August
Key Takeaways: The Panama Canal traded at a record $5.3 million for a transit slot this week as line-up times extend to 17 days. The difficulties transiting the Canal are supporting the PNW/Gulf spread. Tanker freight markets remain elevated as the blockade in the Strait of Hormuz continues. I...
FOB Prices and Freight Rates App (Updated 26 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”...
Middle East, Mediterranean, and Africa Regional Analysis
Mediterranean/Middle East/North Africa/Africa – MEA Region Morocco is reported to be resuming soft wheat imports on 16 September 2026, ending the three-month ban on imports that had begun on 1 June 2026. The government will announce the details of the 2026 wheat support program shortly. N...
Transportation Perspectives - 20 August
Key Takeaways: The Panama Canal’s draft restrictions and decreasing rainfall outlook are driving big moves in dry bulk markets this week. Panamax markets are sharply lower as the economics of moving freight across the Canal are deteriorating rapidly, leading to support in Supramax vessels...
Middle East, Mediterranean, and Africa Regional Analysis
Mediterranean/Middle East/North Africa/Africa – MEA Region Egypt is the largest importer of Brazilian maize in the first six months of 2026. Egypt imported about 28.4 percent of maize exports, or about 1.7 million MT. Iran was the third-largest importer at 14.5 percent, or 900,000 MT, fol...
Brazil’s Reliance on Imported Fertilizer Is a Potential Weak Link
Key Takeaways: Brazil’s growing role in global agriculture is accompanied by a major vulnerability: the country imports approximately 88 percent of its fertilizer needs. High natural gas costs and development challenges have limited domestic nitrogen and potash production despite Brazil&...
Argentina’s Record Corn Crop Drives Export Growth
Key Takeaways: Argentina is on pace for a record corn crop and record exports in the current marketing year, with abundant supplies likely to keep the country highly competitive in global export markets. Argentina’s record exportable surplus is allowing it to offer highly competitive pri...
Fertilizer’s Bullish Outlook for 2027
Unlike the 2022 fertilizer shock, today’s disruption is rooted less in rerouted trade flows and more in damaged production capacity, raw material constraints and uncertain recovery timelines. That makes this a longer-duration risk for U.S. agricultural producers and retailers who must sec...
Inflation: Mixed Bag with CPI on Target and PPI Down and Iran War Hovering
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...
AP Quant: WASDE Vegoils
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...
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...
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...
WASDE Soybeans - August 2026
USDA’s August WASDE outlook for 2026/27 U.S. soybeans is for a modest increase in the U.S. ending stocks by 10 million bushels to 320 million. There was no impact on prices – the seasonal-average farm price of soybeans remains unchanged at $11.40 per bushel; soybean meal and oil pri...
WASDE Wheat - August 2026
USDA’s August WASDE outlook for 2026/27 reduced U.S. wheat supplies on lower production, which is forecast at 1,531 million bushels, down 5 million from last month on decreased harvested area and yield. U.S. ending stocks of total wheat were reduced 5 million bushels to 717 million and ar...
Middle East, Mediterranean, and Africa Regional Analysis
Mediterranean/Middle East/North Africa/Africa – MEA Region Egypt’s annual urban consumer inflation rate is at 14.9 percent for July 2026, up from 14.3 percent in June. Nationwide annual inflation stands at 13.0 percent. Pakistan’s wheat and wheat flour prices continue to move...
Transportation Perspectives - 6 August
Key Takeaways: Global freight markets are mixed this week with Capesize and Panamax vessel seeing strong performance, primarily on iron ore demand and U.S. Gulf and ECSA grain demand. Handysize and, to a lesser extent, Supramax vessels are trading lower as charterers focus on larger vess...
Offal Meat: Challenges and Opportunities in a Global Market
Key Takeaways: Offal represents an important segment of global meat trade by adding value to underutilized portions of livestock carcasses and improving overall resource efficiency. Strong export demand for products such as pork variety meats and chicken feet allows processors to maximize carc...
Fertilizer Outlook
Easing tensions in the Strait of Hormuz, assuming the ceasefire holds, should bring fertilizer prices down, but it could be years before that actually occurs because fertilizer price shocks resulted from not one, but two wars in or near the heart of global fertilizer production. Those wars resu...
Middle East, Mediterranean, and Africa Regional Analysis
Mediterranean/Middle East/North Africa/Africa – MEA Region TMO, the Turkish Grain Board, has announced that milling wheat exports were allowed as of 29 July due to “sufficient domestic supplies.” All milling wheat exports will require approval of an export application; approva...
Transportation Perspectives - 30 July
Wow – what a week for freight markets. Things are changing incredibly rapidly as escalations in the U.S.-Iran war and the Ukraine-Russia conflict reshape global shipping risks and approaches beyond simple rate and insurance cost adjustments. Too, the Panama Canal has shifted its stance on...
Small Ruminants: A Global Protein System the U.S. Market Has Yet to Price In
Executive Summary Sheep and goats represent one of the largest livestock protein systems in the world, with an estimated 2.3 billion head globally; however, they remain almost entirely absent from U.S. agricultural policy, trade strategy, and market forecasting. The U.S. small ruminant herd, at...
Failing to Learn from History, Ghana Locks Down Cocoa Acres
Key Takeaways: Ghana’s new law classifies all cocoa plantations as “protected farms,” which carries significant implications for farmers. Chief among these implications is the inability to switch area under cocoa to other crops, even when economic or biological conditio...
Middle East, Mediterranean, and Africa Regional Analysis
Mediterranean/Middle East/North Africa/Africa – MEA Region Egypt, at the end of July, is once again the largest importer of maize from Brazil at about 2.6 million MT from January to July — followed by Iran at 1.1 MMT, Algeria at 665,000 MT, Saudi Arabia at 435,000 MT, and Israel at...
Tightening Supplies and Strong Demand Fuel a Grain Market Rally
Key Takeaways: Corn and soybean prices rallied sharply last week as declining U.S. production expectations collided with strong demand, raising the prospect of tighter supplies and leaving the market with a smaller margin for further yield losses. The USDA’s lower August yield estimates...
Transportation Perspectives - 27 August
Key Takeaways: The Panama Canal traded at a record $5.3 million for a transit slot this week as line-up times extend to 17 days. The difficulties transiting the Canal are supporting the PNW/Gulf spread. Tanker freight markets remain elevated as the blockade in the Strait of Hormuz continues. I...
FOB Prices and Freight Rates App (Updated 26 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”...
Middle East, Mediterranean, and Africa Regional Analysis
Mediterranean/Middle East/North Africa/Africa – MEA Region Morocco is reported to be resuming soft wheat imports on 16 September 2026, ending the three-month ban on imports that had begun on 1 June 2026. The government will announce the details of the 2026 wheat support program shortly. N...
Transportation Perspectives - 20 August
Key Takeaways: The Panama Canal’s draft restrictions and decreasing rainfall outlook are driving big moves in dry bulk markets this week. Panamax markets are sharply lower as the economics of moving freight across the Canal are deteriorating rapidly, leading to support in Supramax vessels...
Middle East, Mediterranean, and Africa Regional Analysis
Mediterranean/Middle East/North Africa/Africa – MEA Region Egypt is the largest importer of Brazilian maize in the first six months of 2026. Egypt imported about 28.4 percent of maize exports, or about 1.7 million MT. Iran was the third-largest importer at 14.5 percent, or 900,000 MT, fol...
Brazil’s Reliance on Imported Fertilizer Is a Potential Weak Link
Key Takeaways: Brazil’s growing role in global agriculture is accompanied by a major vulnerability: the country imports approximately 88 percent of its fertilizer needs. High natural gas costs and development challenges have limited domestic nitrogen and potash production despite Brazil&...
Argentina’s Record Corn Crop Drives Export Growth
Key Takeaways: Argentina is on pace for a record corn crop and record exports in the current marketing year, with abundant supplies likely to keep the country highly competitive in global export markets. Argentina’s record exportable surplus is allowing it to offer highly competitive pri...
Fertilizer’s Bullish Outlook for 2027
Unlike the 2022 fertilizer shock, today’s disruption is rooted less in rerouted trade flows and more in damaged production capacity, raw material constraints and uncertain recovery timelines. That makes this a longer-duration risk for U.S. agricultural producers and retailers who must sec...
Inflation: Mixed Bag with CPI on Target and PPI Down and Iran War Hovering
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...
AP Quant: WASDE Vegoils
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...
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...
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...
WASDE Soybeans - August 2026
USDA’s August WASDE outlook for 2026/27 U.S. soybeans is for a modest increase in the U.S. ending stocks by 10 million bushels to 320 million. There was no impact on prices – the seasonal-average farm price of soybeans remains unchanged at $11.40 per bushel; soybean meal and oil pri...
WASDE Wheat - August 2026
USDA’s August WASDE outlook for 2026/27 reduced U.S. wheat supplies on lower production, which is forecast at 1,531 million bushels, down 5 million from last month on decreased harvested area and yield. U.S. ending stocks of total wheat were reduced 5 million bushels to 717 million and ar...
Middle East, Mediterranean, and Africa Regional Analysis
Mediterranean/Middle East/North Africa/Africa – MEA Region Egypt’s annual urban consumer inflation rate is at 14.9 percent for July 2026, up from 14.3 percent in June. Nationwide annual inflation stands at 13.0 percent. Pakistan’s wheat and wheat flour prices continue to move...
Transportation Perspectives - 6 August
Key Takeaways: Global freight markets are mixed this week with Capesize and Panamax vessel seeing strong performance, primarily on iron ore demand and U.S. Gulf and ECSA grain demand. Handysize and, to a lesser extent, Supramax vessels are trading lower as charterers focus on larger vess...
Offal Meat: Challenges and Opportunities in a Global Market
Key Takeaways: Offal represents an important segment of global meat trade by adding value to underutilized portions of livestock carcasses and improving overall resource efficiency. Strong export demand for products such as pork variety meats and chicken feet allows processors to maximize carc...
Fertilizer Outlook
Easing tensions in the Strait of Hormuz, assuming the ceasefire holds, should bring fertilizer prices down, but it could be years before that actually occurs because fertilizer price shocks resulted from not one, but two wars in or near the heart of global fertilizer production. Those wars resu...
Middle East, Mediterranean, and Africa Regional Analysis
Mediterranean/Middle East/North Africa/Africa – MEA Region TMO, the Turkish Grain Board, has announced that milling wheat exports were allowed as of 29 July due to “sufficient domestic supplies.” All milling wheat exports will require approval of an export application; approva...
Transportation Perspectives - 30 July
Wow – what a week for freight markets. Things are changing incredibly rapidly as escalations in the U.S.-Iran war and the Ukraine-Russia conflict reshape global shipping risks and approaches beyond simple rate and insurance cost adjustments. Too, the Panama Canal has shifted its stance on...
Small Ruminants: A Global Protein System the U.S. Market Has Yet to Price In
Executive Summary Sheep and goats represent one of the largest livestock protein systems in the world, with an estimated 2.3 billion head globally; however, they remain almost entirely absent from U.S. agricultural policy, trade strategy, and market forecasting. The U.S. small ruminant herd, at...