Agricultural yield and commodity prices are very sensitive to weather patterns such as drought, excessive rain, or frost. As a result unseasonable weather can cause major losses for players in the agricultural value chain, including input providers, farmers, commodity traders, and food processors. The National Crop Insurance Service (NCIS) estimates that about 70% of the losses suffered by the US crop insurance scheme result from drought or excessive rainfall. In this paper information recorded by PriceWaterhouseCoopers on behalf of the Weather Risk Management Association is complemented by Swiss Re's market intelligence to examine demand patterns for weather risk transfer solutions. There is a particular focus on the evolution of demand from the energy... |