Noncommercial managed funds have held a large short position in wheat futures, mainly Chicago (SRW), in what seems like forever. The fund long position in wheat was estimated to be about 125,000 contracts at last count. Being short wheat futures for the long haul has been easy to rationalize. World wheat production has set a new record in each of the last several years and has grown notably faster than world use, which has resulted in ending world wheat stocks having their own string of new records. USDA’s latest estimate for those 2017/18 ending stocks is 268.4 MMT or 36 percent of use. U.S. wheat production has decreased more than 25 percent in the last three years, but estimated ending U.S. wheat stocks are still around the 1-billi...
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
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.