The USDA estimation of planting caught the industry by surprise in March, which had expected higher availability of corn and soy than reported. Last week, the monthly World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) report was released, and as expected, showed sufficient supply owing to larger crop from Brazil.
Why do these reports matter? First, they are highly anticipated by the industry in their ability to impact market prices. Second, they are highly indicative of the way market intelligence is done today. While these reports are invaluable in their measurement and reflection of the industry, they mainly measure supply while estimating or extrapolating demand. Rarely, in market intelligence, are there opportunities to measure demand directly. The demand side of the market is considerably more fragmented, and thus more difficult to accurately measure let alone forecast.
Glowlit was developed to meet the challenge of demand side market intelligence. As you’ll see in our newsletter, we always consider these critical supply fundamentals as a compliment to demand side Glowlit data. When measured directly, and then taken together, they give us powerful information on the movement in our industry.
