It's hard to know who will be squeezed the most. I'm not close enough to the situations, and hoping others here are also looking at for the evidence? Personally I still think a good chunk of this will fall on the consumer, WMT or not. It's looking more and more like the consumer is facing an energy and food subsistence crisis though.
Reuters
Sparks pegs Brazil soy crop at 57.5 mln T - sources
Thursday February 19, 11:48 am ET
CHICAGO, Feb 19 (Reuters) - Analytical firm Sparks Companies has forecast this year's (2003/2004) Brazilian soybean crop at 57.5 million tonnes, well below USDA's current estimate for 61.0 million, U.S. grain trade sources said on Thursday.
The forecast, issued to Sparks clients overnight, would still lead to a record soy output this year by Brazil and is sharply above last year's (2002/2003) record crop of 52.5 million tonnes, the sources said.
Wet weather in northern Brazil has cut into yield and quality prospects and continues to plague harvesting of the crop, while dry weather in southern Brazil trimmed output there.
Reuters
U.S. wheat crop down 9 pct in 2004-USDA's Collins
Thursday February 19, 9:31 am ET
WASHINGTON, Feb 19 (Reuters) - The U.S. wheat harvest will be down 9 percent this year from the 2.337 billion bushels reaped last year, the Agriculture Department's chief economist said on Thursday.
During the opening speech at USDA's annual outlook forum, chief economist Keith Collins said wheat sowings would be 2 percent smaller this year due to dry weather in the Plains.
A 9 percent reduction, or 210 million bushels, would mean a crop of 2.127 billion bushels this year, slightly smaller than the 2.19 billion bushels that USDA projected earlier this month. |
