Corn Argentina saw just a three-day week last week with the truckers’ strike and the Friday closure of the CBOT. There were, therefore, no arrivals of trucks at ports. This was a very serious situation since the country is in the middle of corn harvest and the vessel lineup, which already exceeds 1 MMT, is increasing daily. At the beginning of the strike the ports had enough corn to continue filling ships, but now they need a quick replenishment of stocks. On Friday, 15 April, after successfully negotiating for a 20 percent increase in tariffs (truck rates) and a guarantee of normal diesel supplies, the Federacion Argentina de Transportistas officially ended the strike. Argentina’s corn harvest continues 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.