World sugar prices have begun to moderate after hitting a multi-year high in 2023. The high of $0.28/pound last year was the highest price since 2011, but well below the $0.65/pound experienced in 1974. In real terms, sugar was the equivalent of $4.00/pound that year. That year also saw the largest percentage change caused by a large number of factors including bad harvests in Europe and Cuba that prompted speculative purchases, especially by Arab nations and the Soviet Union. Sugarcane produces slightly more energy per acre than corn and can be more profitable to grow. Overall, sugar prices are less volatile than they used to be. Although global ending stocks have been falling over the past three years, the longer trend has been a C...
Key Market Insights The broad market is locked in on this week’s Trump-Xi meeting in Beijing, but this is no longer just a trade summit. Increasingly, the meeting is becoming tied directly to Iran, energy security, and the growing global economic fallout from disruptions through the Strai...
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.