How will the economy’s performance in March impact domestic food demand?Economic data for March has been compiled, and it shows a solid performance. That should support future economic growth this year, which will help drive domestic food demand. Some of the highlights are discussed below.New Orders for Durable Goods Rose 0.7 percentMost importantly, non-defense capital goods (excluding aircraft), the measure used to calculate business investment for gross domestic product (GDP) purposes, increased at a 7.5 percent annual rate in Q1 2017 versus Q4 2016. This represents the fastest growth of business investment in equipment since the big slowdown in drilling activity began in Q3 2014. It follows gains in January and February as well. There i...
What You Need to Know Today: A third U.S. border crossing (Columbus, New Mexico) has reopened to Mexican cattle imports following nearly two years of restrictions related to New World screwworm. The reopening could gradually improve feeder cattle availability, although more than 60 confi...
Yesterday, the USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) released a new report of negotiated cash purchases of cattle under the mandatory price report. The report included Colorado, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, and Kansas. The goal of the report was to solve the confidentiality issues e...
Key Takeaways: U.S. soybean crushing began in 1911 and saw its most rapid expansion during the 1930s amid the broader agricultural and technology revolutions of the time. After peaking in the early 2000s, the soybean crushing industry went through a downturn as poor crush margins forced...
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.