Politics are once again the tail wagging the dog in commodity markets. U.S. negotiations with Iran fell apart (again) over the weekend after Iran refused to agree to a permanent end of its nuclear weapons program. Rather than a return to the recent status quo, however, markets are adjusting to the new shock of the U.S. blockading the Strait of Hormuz (SOH) in an effort to cut off Iran’s oil revenue (and the $2 million-per-vessel toll for transiting the strait). The closure of the SOH deprives China of its 1.5 mbpd of oil from Iran and will likely spark a postponement of the Trump-Xi meeting later this spring. In response to the weekend developments in the Middle East, crude oil jumped sharply higher and corn and wheat followed...
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.