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India’s Rice Squeeze

The New Delhi playbook for staple crops is to offer farmers a generous Minimum Support Price (MSP), donate the extra output to the nation’s poor, and then dump on the world market any surpluses that would otherwise depress domestic prices. India’s rice surplus was around a quarter of production a dozen years ago but exports have been expanding at double digits a year while output has grown just 2.7 percent per year. The result in this El Nino impacted crop year is that carryover will represent just 12 percent of production this year. That is too close for comfort and so India has slowed the rice export juggernaut and banned the export of non-Basmati rice and other crops.  The pace of rice production could resume its ascent...

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Cocoa: Will the Challenges of 2023 Continue into 2024?

Recently, WPI has received requests from a few clients to provide some analysis on the cocoa market.   Clearly, there is a reason for this request as cocoa prices have been exceptionally volatile and futures more than doubled over the nine months from August 2023 through April 2024. I...

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Perceived Rice Shortage

Rice prices have begun to normalize after spiking recently due to India fearing a shortage and imposing export restrictions. This sparked panic buying and resulted in higher prices. The price of rice early this year was around $602/MT, substantially higher than the historical average of $381/MT...

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CFTC COT Report Analysis

The latest CFTC Commitment of Traders report highlights the ongoing bearish sentiment for oilseed and grain markets with managed money traders remaining massively short agricultural commodities. Perhaps the most notable item in this week’s report was the expansion of the record-large net...

softs

Cocoa: Will the Challenges of 2023 Continue into 2024?

Recently, WPI has received requests from a few clients to provide some analysis on the cocoa market.   Clearly, there is a reason for this request as cocoa prices have been exceptionally volatile and futures more than doubled over the nine months from August 2023 through April 2024. I...

softs

Perceived Rice Shortage

Rice prices have begun to normalize after spiking recently due to India fearing a shortage and imposing export restrictions. This sparked panic buying and resulted in higher prices. The price of rice early this year was around $602/MT, substantially higher than the historical average of $381/MT...

soy-oilseeds feed-grains wheat

CFTC COT Report Analysis

The latest CFTC Commitment of Traders report highlights the ongoing bearish sentiment for oilseed and grain markets with managed money traders remaining massively short agricultural commodities. Perhaps the most notable item in this week’s report was the expansion of the record-large net...

softs

Sugar Volatility

It has been a volatile year for global sugar prices. They hit 27.95 cents/pound on 6 November 2023 – the highest since 1980. They fell 30 percent to 19.69 cents/pound in May and now are running around 20.26 cents/pound.   It is difficult to draw a complete supply/demand imbalanc...

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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.

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