Making Sense of Commodity Markets: FAPRI-MU Outlook and Policy Implications

Declining prices have followed two recent price spikes in 2007/08 and 2010/11 to 2012/13 that brought an era of higher and more volatile commodity prices that is quite different from the previous years of depressed prices. Declining petroleum prices  combined with excellent global harvests brought the lowest market prices in many years. Are current policies tuned to these market conditions? We begin with a review of past policy evolution that took place in the European Union (EU) and United States (US), and then look at recent reforms and prospects for policy changes in the context of likely changes in the global market and policy environment over the next decade. Since agricultural policies generally evolve in response to internal and external pressures in a political economy context, we explore how the outlook of commodity markets may influence the directions of policies and the decision making environment for farmers

Versailles Project on Advanced Materials and Standards interlaboratory study on intensity calibration for x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy instruments using low-density polyethylene

We report the results of a Versailles Project on Advanced Materials and Standards interlaboratory study on the intensity scale calibration of x-ray photoelectron spectrometers using low-density polyethylene (LDPE) as an alternative material to gold, silver, and copper. An improved set of LDPE reference spectra, corrected for different instrument geometries using a quartz-monochromated Al Kα x-ray source, was developed using data provided by participants in this study. Using these new reference spectra, a transmission function was calculated for each dataset that participants provided. When compared to a similar calibration procedure using the NPL reference spectra for gold, the LDPE intensity calibration method achieves an absolute offset of ∼3.0% and a systematic deviation of ±6.5% on average across all participants. For spectra recorded at high pass energies (≥90 eV), values of absolute offset and systematic deviation are ∼5.8% and ±5.7%, respectively, whereas for spectra collected at lower pass energies (<90 eV), values of absolute offset and systematic deviation are ∼4.9% and ±8.8%, respectively; low pass energy spectra perform worse than the global average, in terms of systematic deviations, due to diminished count rates and signal-to-noise ratio. Differences in absolute offset are attributed to the surface roughness of the LDPE induced by sample preparation. We further assess the usability of LDPE as a secondary reference material and comment on its performance in the presence of issues such as variable dark noise, x-ray warm up times, inaccuracy at low count rates, and underlying spectrometer problems. In response to participant feedback and the results of the study, we provide an updated LDPE intensity calibration protocol to address the issues highlighted in the interlaboratory study. We also comment on the lack of implementation of a consistent and traceable intensity calibration method across the community of x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) users and, therefore, propose a route to achieving this with the assistance of instrument manufacturers, metrology laboratories, and experts leading to an international standard for XPS intensity scale calibration

Commodity markets and trade to 2025: What is driving these changes?

The paper provides an overview of the factors contributing to the decline in agricultural commodity prices and prospects to 2025 with a particular focus on supply, demand and policy factors. Agricultural and other commodity markets continue to be depressed, causing concern among farmers and their organizations as well as among policy makers concerned about the well-being of farmers. Factors contributing to these market changes are the excellent crops in recent years and growing stocks, the massive decline in petroleum prices that reduce production cost and slow biofuel demand growth, slowing economic growth in major importing countries like China, and changing exchange rate dynamics. We will use the FAPRI outlook update from August 2016 to assess the factors that are driving those results. Then we will offer commentary on what changes in market conditions or policies could alter the projected outcomes. Recent developments in trade disputes and regional trade agreements will also be assessed based on recent studies of these developments

Regional Price Transmission in Southern African Maize Markets

In light of the importance of maize as a staple crop in Southern Africa, as well as its prioritisation from a policy perspective, this study evaluates the extent of price transmission between selected maize markets in the region. It employs secondary data of weekly white maize prices in seven markets in the region to quantify the long and short run price relationships between relevant markets based on geographic proximity and expected trade patterns. While several authors have noted the isolation of white maize markets in Southern Africa from the global market, this study finds evidence of co-integration between multiple maize markets within the Southern African region. By implication, policy decisions affecting prices in any single country will influence price levels in multiple surrounding markets, impacting on both producer and consumer welfare not only in the country of application but also in the region as a whole

ERRATUM: “Versailles project on advanced materials and standards interlaboratory study on intensity calibration for x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy instruments using low-density polyethylene” [J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A 38, 063208 (2020)]

From Crossref journal articles via Jisc Publications RouterHistory: epub 2021-01-25, issued 2021-01-25, ppub 2021-03-01Publication status: Publishe

ERRATUM: “Versailles project on advanced materials and standards interlaboratory study on intensity calibration for x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy instruments using low-density polyethylene” [J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A 38, 063208 (2020)]

From Crossref journal articles via Jisc Publications Route