Implications of biotech traits with segregation costs and market segments: the case of Roundup Ready(R) Wheat

Roundup Ready^® Wheat (RRW) is one of the first geneticallymodified (GM) traits for the wheat sector. We develop a spatialpartial equilibrium model of the higher-protein hard wheat marketand assess the changes in the distribution of welfare associatedwith release and adoption of RRW. It incorporates segments forGM aversion in each market and segregation costs for each segment.In the most likely scenario, producer and consumer welfare increasesby $301 and $252 million, respectively. Producers of hard redspring wheat in the US and Canada gain. There are welfare lossesto hard red winter wheat growers in the US and to EU consumerswho have to import at a higher cost.     

Impact of the US–EC price war on major wheat exporters' shares of the Chinese market

China is both the world's largest producer and consumer of wheat. In an attempt to gain a larger slice of the important Chinese market, both the European Community and the United States have offered China subsidised wheat. In addition, other exporters have offered attractive credit arrangements to China. The objective of this paper is to measure the overall impact of these policies on each exporter's share of the Chinese market. To that end, an improved version of the constant market shares model is applied to data on Chinese wheat imports in the 1980's. The results indicate that the United States has been outperforming the other exporters since subsidised US wheat sales were authorised for China in 1987. The implications of the analysis for the smaller exporters and international wheat trade are discussed.     

A DYNAMIC ANALYSIS OF US EXPORT WHEAT PRICING AND MARKET SHARES

The economics of a higher loan rate to support US wheat prices is analysed. Utilising optimal control theory, a dynamic wheat trade model is developed. The basic premise underlying the model is that the United States finds itself having transient monopoly power in the wheat market. An expression for the optimal pricing policy which maximises the present value of expected profits over the indefinite future is derived. Results from both the theoretical and empirical models demonstrate that the US wheat pricing strategy depends on its costs relative to competitors' costs, the discount rate and the competitors' response function. The main policy implication of the analysis is for the dominant wheat exporting country constantly to seek to lower costs relative to competitors and to maintain a price exceeding unit cost without encouraging competitors' expansion.     

Are Russian Wheat Exporters Able to Price Discriminate? Empirical Evidence from the Last Decade

Significant changes have taken place in the world wheat market in the last decade. Russia, a former net wheat importer, has become a leading exporter with a world market share of 11.2% in 2009. This increasing importance and the discussion about the establishment of a grain‐OPEC consisting of Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Russia has raised the issue of pricing behaviour of Russian wheat exporters. Although there are several studies on the pricing behaviour of Canadian and US wheat exporters, there is none so far for Russian wheat exporters. This study provides a quantitative analysis of the pricing behaviour of Russian wheat exporters, explicitly taking account of the export tax imposed between 2007 and 2008. We employ a pricing‐to‐market (PTM) model on quarterly Russian wheat‐export data, covering the period from 2002 to 2010 and 25 export destinations. Our findings indicate that (i) Russian wheat exporters exercised PTM in only a few importing countries over the whole time period, and (ii) PTM behaviour was more pronounced in the aftermath of the export tax period (i.e. 2008–2010) than before.     

The right place to grow rice for the Japanese market: comparative analysis of greenhouse gas emissions of rice cultivation in Japan and the United States

One consequence of increasing agricultural trade is a shift of geographic location of agricultural activity to more economically productive countries. Whether or not the economic efficiency translates to environmental efficiency for agricultural goods is an open question. To examine environmental implications of shifting agricultural location, we analysed the life-cycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of rice production in Japan and the US for the Japanese market in a comparative manner. This paper presents the life-cycle assessment of brown japonica rice. Our computation of GHG emissions of rice production in Japan and the US were 3.54 and 2.99?kgCO₂-eq kg-rice^?1, respectively. With respect to harvested area, the emissions were 18.4 in Japan and 27.8?tCO₂-eq ha^?1 in the US. For Japan to be environmentally competitive with the US production, fundamental restructuration of field size is necessary to increase yield. In conclusion, economic efficiency does not translate to environmental efficiency with the case of rice production. Importing rice is both economically and environmentally viable option for the Japanese market.     

Modeling and Extrapolating Wheat Producer Support Using Income and Other Factors

Using wheat market support data from 55 countries for 1961–2011 from the World Bank Agricultural Distortion database, we develop a fixed effect model that shows a more complicated, nonlinear relationship between income and wheat support and its components than previously realised. We find that income generally has a greater effect on border market price support than on domestic price support. Moreover, the difference between these types of support is greater for net importers than for net exporters and has increased with the URAA or WTO accession. Holding other variables constant, the wheat support level of China, driven mainly by border market price support, is projected to rise with future income growth. Meanwhile, Japan is projected to maintain its high level of support, while the US and EU are projected to maintain their lower levels of support. These results are relevant in the context of multilateral trade negotiations, arguing against a narrow focus on past or current policy profiles and for long‐run analyses that might mistakenly rest on the inconsistent assumptions of constant agricultural policies against the backdrop of rising incomes.     

中国水产品对日本出口变动因素分析

论文利用日本财务省贸易统计提供的1990～2009年日本水产品贸易数据,在总结中国水产品对日本出口贸易特点的基础上,利用恒定市场模型,分析了中国对日本水产品出口贸易的变动情况。研究结果表明,需求效应和竞争力效应是影响中国水产品对日出口额变动的主要因素,近年来中国水产品对日本出口额急剧缩减主要是由于日本水产品进口市场需求萎缩和中国水产品竞争力下降造成的。在此基础上,根据实证分析结果,论文提出了扩大中国水产品对日本出口的建议。     

An econometric analysis of U.S. vital wheat gluten imports

In light of the wheat wet milling industry's development in the E.C. and of the prominent role U.S imports play in the international market for wheat gluten, this paper discusses the international market for wheat gluten, an important component of processed grain products. An econometric analysis of the U.S. import demand for wheat gluten is undertaken. The price of flour, income, and the U.S. value of wheat protein are found to be important determinants of wheat gluten imports.     

Competition between farmed and wild salmon: the Japanese salmon market

This article examines the Japanese market for salmon. This market is of interest, since it is the largest and most diversified salmon market in the world with wild and farmed species, from Europe and South and North America, competing in the same market. In contrast to the European Union (EU)‐ and U.S.‐markets, there have been neither trade conflicts nor trade restrictions. The Japanese market can hence provide information about the impact of bringing substantial quantities of a new product into a market, and the effect of large‐scale aquaculture on traditional fisheries. In this article, market integration between wild and farmed salmon on the Japanese market is examined, using both bivariate and multivariate cointegration analysis. Tests for the Law of One Price are also conducted. The results indicate that the species are close substitutes on the market, and that the expansion of farmed salmon has resulted in price decreases for all salmon species.     

Residual demand measures of market power of Russian wheat exporters

Traditionally, the international wheat market has been considered a good example of a market with perfect competition. Yet, several articles provide evidence of imperfect competition and price discrimination in the wheat trade. However, these studies focused on traditional high‐quality wheat exporters such as Canada and the United States. In contrast, this article investigates whether Russian wheat exporters exercise market power in eight selected importing countries using the residual demand elasticity (RDE) model. The article makes two major contributions. First, it focuses on a nontraditional exporter, who exports mainly wheat of mediocre quality to low‐ and middle‐income countries. Second, the RDE model is estimated for the first time using a nonlinear estimator, the instrumental variable Poisson pseudo‐maximum likelihood estimator. This is important because the double logarithmic functional form can provide biased results in the presence of heteroskedasticity. The results indicate that Russian wheat exporters can exercise market power in only a few markets, while they are price takers in the majority of importing countries.     

Forecasting Japan's Frozen Potato Imports

THe U.S. potato industry is the main supplier of frozen potatoes to a rapidly growing Japanese food service market. A two-stage budgeting procedure was employed to estimate total Japanese imports of frozen potatoes and imports by country of origin. Japanese demand for frozen potatoes was found to be own-price inelastic and income elastic. The complementary relationship between hamburger and frozen potatoes suggests that replacement of tariffs for beef import quotas will impact the Japanese potato market. Imports from the United States are expected to increase substantially and remain in constant proportion to total imports.     

The Market Structure and Price Competition in China's Wheat Import Market:

This paper reveals that wheat exporters to China compete in an imperfectly competitive market. U.S. wheat exports face strong price competition from Argentina, Australia, Canada, and the European Community, but has a highly elastic demand in China. By adopting an aggressive promotion policy, the U.S. could reduce the market shares of Argentina and Canada. China would shift to wheat from Argentina, Australia, and Canada if U.S. wheat exports were interrupted because of high prices or non-price trade frictions. An expansion in China's wheat imports would accrue to wheat from Argentina and the U.S.     

Price shock transmission: evidence from the wheat‐bread market value chain in Ethiopia

This study assesses the degree of vertical price transmission along the wheat‐bread value chain in Ethiopia. This is pursued by applying a vector error correction model and an impulse response analysis using monthly price data for the period 2000–2015. Our analysis considers transmission of price shocks across different market levels, including from the international and domestic wheat grain markets at the upstream to the domestic wheat bread market at the downstream of the value chain. The empirical findings indicate that significant cointegration exists across prices of the different market stages. There is a transmission from international prices to domestic prices at downstream markets, in particular to flour and bread prices. Prices at upstream markets are largely influenced by the domestic wholesale market. In general, the speed of adjustment is quite slow with a half‐life of about one year for restoring the equilibrium price relationship. As price margins between the different market stages in the value chain have substantially decreased in the last 15 years, higher transmission, and thus exposure to international market shocks, can be expected in the future. The results also show that causal relationships exist between prices at different market stages—with the wholesale market identified as the key market level where prices and price expectations are formed.     

Exploiting the cointegration properties of the US soy-based market system

Perhaps for the first time, this paper applies Johansen and Juselius' methods of the cointegrated vector autoregression (VAR) model to a monthly US system of markets for soybeans, soy meal, and soy oil. Analysis of the error correction or cointegration space illuminates the empirical nature of policy-relevant market elasticities, and of effects of important policy, market, and institutional events on US soy-related markets. A statistically strong US demand for soybeans emerged as the primary cointegrating relation in the error-correction space.     

中国粮食价格支持的政策优化与未来走向*——基于美国指控中国粮食价格支持过度的分析

[目的]分析2015年美国DTB联合公司(DTB Associates,LLP)针对中国粮食(仅包括小麦、大米和玉米)的价格支持力度过度的指控是否合理,并明确我国实际的粮食市场价格支持情况。[方法]文章根据市场价格支持水平的基本计算公式以及我国向WTO的通报文件和公开资料,对2013/2014年度我国小麦、大米和玉米的实际市场价格支持水平进行了重新测算,并将测算结果与指控内容进行了对比分析和讨论。[结果]测算结果表明,2013/2014年度,我国对小麦、大米和玉米的实际市场价格支持水平分别为168亿元、-221亿元和36亿元,远远低于DTB联合公司的公布结果。[结论]美国DTB联合公司对我国粮食市场价格支持过度的指控不实,主要是指标选取有误和数据选取不合理导致了其对我国粮食价格支持力度过高的判断。为从容应对以后可能面临的国际指控和调查,我国需要在支持手段、支持领域等方面进一步优化粮食市场价格支持政策。     

我国小麦生产、消费和贸易的现状分析

[目的]小麦是在全球范围内广泛种植的一种非常重要的粮食作物,在三大粮食作物中保持着收获面积第一的地位。中国既是世界上最大的小麦生产、消费国,也是世界小麦贸易大国。全面多角度地分析我国小麦的供需现状,找出小麦产业发展面临的难题,提供科学合理政策建议,对于优化小麦生产和促进小麦贸易都具有积极意义。[方法]利用2007-2016年的统计数据,采用对比分析法对近年来我国小麦的生产、消费和进出口贸易情况进行研究,通过国际竞争力指标分析法测算了10年间我国小麦国际贸易竞争力水平,并与小麦主要出口国进行比较。[结果](1)我国小麦总体生产能力稳步提升,2016年小麦产量已达到1.29亿t,小麦的生产区域主要集中于河南、山东等省份,大部分省份仅少量种植小麦,小麦的成本收益率相对较低,净利润不断走低。(2)小麦消费量平稳增加,我国小麦的消费量达到1.16亿t,口粮消费占比80%,消费量较大的省份也多分布在小麦主产区,中部地区省份消费缺口相对较大。(3)小麦的贸易量趋向合理,进口量达453万t,我国小麦的供需总体上保持了平衡,但小麦国际贸易逆差较大,小麦的国际竞争力较弱,小麦进口来源过于集中在加拿大、美国等小麦生产大国的状况并未改善,好在哈萨克斯坦和俄罗斯等新兴小麦大国的兴起为我国小麦的多元化贸易提供了契机。[结论]我国要坚持小麦生产以我为主的战略,做好政府服务和市场导向的有机结合,增加农业投入促进小麦高效优质生产,加大科技进步对小麦生产的贡献,合理利用国际市场等措施来保障小麦充分供给,确保国家粮食安全。     

Information-rich wheat markets in the early days of COVID-19

This paper uses the information implicit in commodity futures and options prices to infer market beliefs about the impact of early-stages COVID-19 on commodity market fundamentals. The particular commodity examined is soft red winter (SRW) wheat, and the timeframe is early February to late March 2020. The analysis highlights various adjustments in the cash and futures price of SRW wheat in light of surging short-run demand from consumer hoarding of staple food products, and a weakening long-run market from growing wheat stocks and an emerging global recession. This split is causing the forward curve to flatten and basis levels to invert. The change over time in the price of options on wheat futures reveals increased price volatility in response to growing uncertainty about the COVID-19 impacts. Similarly, changes in the skewness of the option's volatility smile illustrate a shift in traders’ perception about risk in the right versus left tail of the price distribution.     

Supply Chain Management in Cereal Grains: A Case Study from the U.S. Milling Wheat Industry

This paper studies supply chain management in the grain industry by investigating the effects of wheat quality on marketing arrangements between wheat producers, grain handling companies and processors. Wheat quality is defined by many different characteristics, broadly categorized into physical and intrinsic quality attributes. The complexity of wheat quality places limitations on the effectiveness of industry grading schemes in assuring end-use quality. In the U.S., wheat grading factors mostly reflect physical characteristics. Moreover, the U.S. wheat industry does little to regulate the intrinsic quality of new cultivars. Consequently, there is functional quality uncertainty in the U.S. wheat market, encouraging some individual processors to segregate wheat based on their own quality specifications. The costs and benefits of wheat segregation are illustrated with a case study of wheat procurement taken from the U.S. flour industry. Pendleton Flour Mills Inc. operates a stringent testing program to segregate wheat supplies with specific intrinsic quality attributes from the U.S. wheat market. The paper concludes that the inadequacy of the U.S. grading system in guaranteeing functional quality provides some processors with an incentive to manage the supply chain for milling wheat.     

我国小麦生产成本收益分析

[目的]近年来,随着中国经济和农业的不断发展,我国已经成为世界上最大的小麦生产、消费国。小麦市场的变动会对我国粮食产业产生巨大影响,因此,对小麦生产成本收益的变化进行探究,可以从整体上把握小麦产业的生产情况,便于国家、厂商以及农户做出适当的调整措施,促进我国小麦产业的可持续性发展。[方法]文章通过对全国农产品成本资料收益汇编数据及农业农村部2018年主产区小麦调研数据进行分析,探讨2012—2017年我国小麦成本收益变化趋势。[结果]我国小麦生产总成本快速增长,总成本从2012年的830.44元/hm~2上涨至2017年的1 007.64元/hm~2,化肥费、机械作业费、人工成本、土地成本在总成本中所占比重较大。小麦的产值与现金收益虽然保持增长,但净利润与成本利润率呈下降趋势,总成本的增长速度快于总收益的增长速度。[结论]小麦生产成本收益变化的原因为小麦产量减少、生产成本上升以及市场价格降低,并且提出了依靠科技提高小麦产量、维护农资市场价格稳定等一系列针对性的建议与措施。     

Structural Change and Long‐run Relationships between US and EU Wheat Export Prices

This paper analyses the nature of the long‐run relationship between US and EU wheat export prices over the period 1981–2000. We employ a novel approach of testing for cointegration with structural change developed by Barassi and Taylor (A Test for Change in the Cointegrating Rank, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, 2004). The method enables us to determine the breakpoint, which is found to occur after the 1992 CAP reforms were implemented. On analysing the two separate subperiods, we find no evidence of a long‐run relationship prior to the 1992 CAP reform. However, clear evidence of a long‐run relationship is found after the CAP reforms were implemented. Further analysis reveals that, in the post‐CAP reform period, the EU wheat prices follow then US soft wheat prices, consistent with the EU export subsidy regime over this period, albeit that export subsidies by the EU have been relatively small.