Experts: International food price increases have limited impact on China

Recently, the wave of price increases triggered by climate anomalies in the global food industry has attracted worldwide attention. What is the impact of this round of food production reduction and rising international food prices on food security and food prices in China? The reporter from this Taiwan interviewed an expert on food security and a researcher at the Institute of Agricultural Information of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Ms. Nie Fengying. She believes that the current global food structure is a structural shortage and its impact on China is limited.

Since the beginning of this year, the United States, Russia and other major global grain-producing countries have been affected by extreme weather such as droughts, and corn, soybeans and other food crops have continued to produce a large number of cuts, leading to significant increases in international grain prices. Data show that since June of this year, international corn prices have soared by 50%, has risen to historical highs, and soybean prices have also risen by about 30%.

In response, Nie Fengying, a food security expert and a researcher at the Institute of Agricultural Information of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, said that at present, global food is only a structural shortage, and it will not have a major impact on the overall food security.

Nie Fengying said: “Overall, although the droughts in the United States and Russia have caused the decline in grain production in Brazil, the damaged crops are mainly corn and soybeans. The global production cuts are obvious, and the world's grain supply and inventory are still relatively Sufficiently, the market supply of wheat is relatively sufficient, and the situation is significantly better than that of corn and soybeans.According to the US Department of Agriculture's August budget, US wheat production is also harvesting in 2012. We believe that the drought in the United States and other countries has led to a global food structure. The shortage will not have a great impact on the overall food security."

In terms of China's grain situation, China's three major grain products, wheat, corn, and rice, are based on domestic production. Only soybeans have a high degree of foreign dependence, exceeding 70%. Nie Fengying believes that the impact of rising international food prices on China is mainly reflected in soybeans, which will affect the prices of meat, edible oil and related processed products.

Nie Fengying said: “The impact of rising corn and soybean prices on China is still somewhat because more than half of China’s soybean supply depends on imports. Soybean processed products are mainly used as feed. Soaring soybean prices will affect, to some extent, The price of Chinese meat products.Since last year, corn imports have begun, but the import volume is not very large.So, this round of rising food prices has a certain impact on the Chinese countries, the main impact is in soybeans, and the main products affected are Meat, edible oil and related processed products."

It is reported that this year, China's summer grain record hit a record high, the area of ​​autumn grain has increased, the balance has grown, and there is a good foundation for achieving a bumper harvest. China's grain has been continuously increased for eight years. Last year, China’s per capita food production reached 852 pounds, exceeding the level of world food per capita that year. Nie Fengying said that despite the sharp rise in international grain prices, China’s domestic grain market can be guaranteed to be stable because China’s grain production has increased for many consecutive years and domestic supplies are adequate. Food prices will not fluctuate too much.