Dim Sums: Agricultural Markets in China

China rarely acknowledges that droughts or floods impact farm production, but this week's announcements of disaster relief acknowledge that impacts of this year's extreme weather on agricultural output are a serious concern. An unusual report of payouts on agricultural insurance policies meant to reassure farmers further reveals the degree of concern. At the same time, State news media are assuring the public that China will have another bumper harvest this Fall. Three different disaster relief figures have been announced by State media. On August 3, one news item announced  RMB 215.4 billion (about $31.8 billion) had been allocated for agricultural disaster mitigation. Also on August 3,  China's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs announced that the country's top leadership had allocated RMB 176.3 billion ($26 billion) in funds for agricultural disaster prevention and mitigation as well as water conservancy-related disaster relief funds. A third report on August...

China crushed 47.8 million metric tons of imported soybeans during the first 6 months of 2026, up 6.4% from the same period last year. The year-over-year growth in crush outpaced the 1.5% growth in China's imports of soybeans which totaled 50.15 mmt for H1 2026.  China Customs; MySteel; China Feed Industry Association. The rapid growth in crush also outpaced 3.9% year-over-year growth in industrial feed output during H1 2026. Official data showed that China's meat output was up 4.3% year-over-year during H1 2026, including 3.3% growth in pork and 9.4% growth in poultry meat. Growth in crush was bolstered by addition of new capacity and ample raw material supplies reflecting shipments from Brazil's record-breaking crop this year. Crushers are processing the Brazilian beans as soon as they arrive because their high moisture content makes them difficult to store.  Ten of China's 14 regions posted growth in crushing volume, including double-digit growth in inland provinces...

China is causing consternation and puzzlement by detecting and rejecting genetically modified material in food shipments from trading partners from trading partners who claim that they don't grow GM crops.  Chinese inspectors have rejected 146 shipments for containing GM material in the first half of 2026, up from a trickle in earlier years. More interesting is that Chinese inspectors have found GMOs in shipments of rapeseed oil, rice, flour, and soybean foods  Compiled from China Administration of Customs. Earlier this year, this blog reported  that Chinese inspectors had reported 74 GMO-containing shipments of rapeseed oil from Kazakhstan, Russia, Ukraine and Belarus--countries that banned GMO crop production. At least one Kazakh exporter protested that it had verified that there was no GMO material in exports destined for China.    Despite having suspended several Kazakh and 8 Russian rapeseed oil exporters, China rejected another 27 rapeseed oil shipmen...

China's COFCO was the top-ranked grain trading company in the latest Fortune Global 500. COFCO ranked 157 with revenue of $81.95 billion. Its ranking was lower than last year's 133. COFCO was still ahead of Archer Daniels Midland (ranked 167), Wilmar (195), Bunge (196), Louis Dreyfus (287), Olam (302), and CHS (468). The rankings of grain trading companies were pulled from Fortune's list and compiled by China Oil Guidance Net . Cargill is the largest grain trading company but it is not in the Fortune 500 ranking because it is a privately held company; Cargill's revenue for its 2025 fiscal year was $154 billion.  Two Chinese companies were ranked in the top 10: State Grid (3) and China National Petroleum (10). Over the years, Chinese government and industry officials have been obsessed with expanding COFCO to compete with so-called ABCDs (ADM, Bunge, Cargill, and Louis Dreyfus). COFCO grew by absorbing Chinese companies like Chinatex and Mengniu Dairy as well as foreign...

China's propaganda authorities revealed that data on rice production and other activities is severely inflated by local leaders who are under pressure to create the illusion of prosperity and growth whether it exists or not. Officials in Beijing fault their underlings for failing to "seek truth from facts," but it is Beijing's "food security" measures that are based on "facts" from the last century. China actually produces too much rice, so there is no need to pile unrealistic rice-planting quotas on village leaders and farmers.  A July 14 Central China TV broadcast reported shocking discrepancies between reported rice cultivation and actual figures  in Jianghua County of Hunan Province. While fields along the highway were planted in rice as dictated by quotas handed out to each town and village, a drone flight revealed that fields hidden behind hills were actually planted in cash crops. After checking the ledgers, the reporter found that a village...

China is having terrible floods all over the country. Where are its emergency food reserves? I searched online for news or photos of food distribution in flood areas and found nothing.  On July 19, the director of China's Food and Strategic Commodity Reserves Administration went to Shanghai --hit by serious flooding this week--to inspect emergency reserves. He is shown in a warehouse accompanied by 10 people who are all contemplating a folding emergency table about 2 feet tall for use in disaster areas. No food or other items are visible in the warehouse. Wooden structures in the background are hidden behind a black curtain.  The director issued orders about building up reserves to prepare for disasters, locating them strategically, and replenishing them, but he said nothing about distributing food supplies to areas devastated by floods this month--including Shanghai. Are the food reserves a myth? Are the warehouses flooded? Canned food for emergency use is for sale on the Tao...