General Comments There was little more news about China's bird flu outbreak overnight, and Chinese markets and many businesses have closed for the long spring holiday weekend. Rumors about Chinese interest in new crop U.S. SRW continue to swirl, and there is a general consensus that some trades have taken place for July/August shipment. There is no consensus about the traded volume, however. Estimates or guesses we hear range from 400,000 MT to as much as 1.2 MMT. New crop U.S. SRW is the by far the cheapest wheat (or feed grain) available to Chinese buyers.It was another day of selling pretty much across the board. Weakness showed up overnight and continued to dominate the day session led by soybeans. Liquidation of long positions picke...
What You Need to Know Today: Cattle futures extended their sharp selloff Friday as weakening cash cattle prices, deteriorating feedlot profitability, and reduced packer demand continued to weigh on the market. The inability of futures to sustain a rally following last week's bullish Cattle on...
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 €...
From WPI Consulting
Forecasting developments in production agriculture
On behalf of a private U.S. agricultural technology provider, WPI’s team generated an econometric model to forecast the movement of concentrated corn production north and west from the traditional U.S. Corn Belt. WPI’s model has subsequently provided quantitative support to a multi-million-dollar investment into short-season corn variety development. WPI’s methodology included a series of interviews with regional grain elevators and seed consultants. Emphasizing outreach and communication with stakeholders who possess intimate sectoral knowledge – on-the-ground insights – is a regular component of WPI’s methodologies, made possible by WPI’s ever-growing network of industry contacts.