Dim Sums: Agricultural Markets in China

"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 ...

China has announced  antidumping duties of 54.3% on U.S. pecans following an  investigation by the Chinese Ministry of Commerce that claimed the nuts were sold below their production cost. The duty on Mexican pecans is 51.68%. The investigation was launched last year during the depths of the U.S.-China trade war. Duties took effect today August 11, 2026--about 6 weeks ahead of Xi Jinping's expected visit to Washington next month. It's hard to discern the necessity of the duties to protect China's pecan industry. In a classic import substitution strategy, Chinese leaders created an industry from nothing by transplanting an essentially American crop as a substitute for imported U.S. pecans that are popular with Chinese consumers. Imports already collapsed last year, undermining the claim of "harm" to the Chinese industry. The antidumping investigation claimed that surging imports of pecans from the U.S. and Mexico harmed the Chinese industry. Chinese customs data s...

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...