Determining the lysine market


During the 1980s, most of the world's supply of lysine was produced by a Japanese company Ajinomoto. Lysine is an essential amino acid that is an important livestock feed component. At this time, the United States imported most of the world's supply of lysine - more than 30,000 tons - to use in livestock feed at a price of $1.65 per pound. The worldwide market for lysine, however, fundamentally changed in 1991 when US-based Archer Daniel Midland (ADM)began producing lysine - a move that doubled worldwide production capacity. Experts conjectured that Ajinomoto and ADM had similar cost structures and that marginal cost of producing and distributing lysine was approximately $0.70 per pound. Despite ADM's entry into the lysine market, demand remained constant at Q = 208 - 80P (in millions of pounds). Shortly after ADM began producing lysine, the worldwide price dropped to $0.70. By 1993, however, the price of lysine shot back up to $1.65. Use the theories we discussed in class to provide a potential explanation for what happened in the lysine market. Support your answer with appropriate calculations.

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Macroeconomics: Determining the lysine market
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