"Poultry farming is no longer about merely raising chickens, but about operating a modern, equipment- and technology-intensive factory." This quote from a MySteel commentary on the expansion of egg-laying capacity earlier this month is the leading edge of a factory-style (工厂化) overhaul of farming underway at China's grass roots as part of Xi Jinping's "high-quality development" push. The rapid expansion of production capacity in a saturated egg market drives down prices, so sustainability relies on pushing small scale producers out of the market. Much of the expansion is in regions that lack feed resources, perpetuating China's reliance on imported feed grains and soybeans. Between 2023 and 2026 at least 123 new laying hen projects representing 260 million birds were signed, initiated or brought online in China. The expansion peaked with 73 new projects launched in 2024. A crash in egg prices during 2025 did not stop the expansion, as 12 new projects we...
Chinese wheat prices have been falling since the harvest began in May. In Henan Province 262 districts have launched procurement at minimum prices to stop the slide in market prices. The support price program has also been launched in Anhui Province (91 districts), Hebei (46 districts), Jiangsu (14 districts), and Shandong (4 districts), with 6 million metric tons procured. Last year 16.4 mmt of wheat was procured at minimum prices. China Administration of Food and Commodity Reserves. Flour prices have also been declining since June, suggesting weak downstream demand. Wholesale prices from China Administration of Food and Commodity Reserves. Chinese corn prices have also been falling since May, in part because declining wheat prices have prompted feed mills to substitute wheat for corn. Availability of other substitutes and idling of some corn processing plants due to weak downstream demand also had a depressive effect on corn prices. Some corn market commentators speculate that ...