Chinese Government's Seed Industry Concerns Chinese industry and government officials recently showed concern about the nation's seed industry crisis, and the growing popularity of seeds sold by multinational companies. The world's top 10 seed companies have either invested in joint ventures or their own China-based operations, and are becoming dominant in some segments of the country's seed market. Multinationals are said to have a 95 percent market share in sugar beet seeds, 50 percent in sunflower seeds and domination of the high-end vegetable markets. Their share of corn seeds is said to have grown from 0.1 percent in 2003 to 11 percent in 2011.Chinese seed companies are small and highly fragmented. China currently has 6,296 seed c...
As predicted, the Federal Reserve held rates steady at the last meeting before the midterm elections, likely in part because of the election (see WPI 19 October and 22 September). The decision comes at the tail end of a midterm election cycle that has been marked by the two parties campaigning...
Key Takeaways: WPI’s new EU rapeseed crushing margin models point to weaker processing returns over the next four months due to higher rapeseed procurement costs and weaker product values. Statistical forecasts call for German crushing margins to decline from €181/MT to €...
Key Takeaways: The tariff burden rose sharply in 2025 and 2026: the effective rate on imports in HTS Chapters 1–24 increased from 1.53 percent in 2024 to 6.11 percent in 2025, before averaging 5.68 percent in January–August 2026. Headline rates tell only part of the story: exemptio...
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.