Policy-based purchasing and storage becomes the main channel for grain market procurement

In the face of the severe situation of inverted grain prices on the market, in 2014 the state continued to implement the minimum purchase price and temporary purchasing and storage policies for major grain varieties. Sinograin, together with relevant local departments, gave full play to its role as the main force, and over the year organized and completed nearly 125 million tons of policy-based purchases, with the purchase volume hitting a new record high. In 2014, policy-based purchasing and storage became the main channel for market procurement, safeguarding market stability and farmers' interests. This was learned by the reporter at the 2015 Central Grain Reserve Work Conference held in Beijing on February 2.

In 2014, the market saw a severe situation of inverted prices between raw grain and finished grain, between production and sales areas, and between domestic and international markets. As the entity implementing the state's market-support policies, Sinograin Corporation overcame difficulties and efficiently completed various macro-control tasks including purchasing, sales, research, warehouse construction and rotation. During the summer grain purchase, it implemented the "six joints" mechanism in which local grain administrative departments, the Agricultural Development Bank and Sinograin jointly designated sites, purchased, inspected, stored, supervised and shipped out grain; during the autumn grain purchase, it implemented the "one main, two auxiliary" mechanism with Sinograin as the main body and other central state-owned enterprises as auxiliary forces, clarifying responsibilities and rights to ensure smooth purchasing; in the temporary storage purchase of rapeseed, it followed the sixteen-character guideline of "independent purchasing, commissioned processing, tank leasing for storage, and whole-process supervision," effectively preventing risks. In response to the reality of high inventories and heavy warehouse capacity pressure, from mid-May 2014 Sinograin, in accordance with state arrangements, stepped up policy-based grain sales, balanced auction plans, and reasonably divided trading lots, completing a total of 52.14 million tons of policy-based grain auctions, the highest level of release since 2011; to focus on solving the problem of insufficient storage capacity in Northeast China, it completed a centralized 10.15 million ton inter-provincial warehouse transfer task, setting a new record of 2.48 million tons shipped in a single month in the Northeast region; it stepped up warehouse construction, with 102 new projects reaching a scale of 4.55 million tons, easing the warehouse capacity contradiction in major production areas, greatly facilitating farmers' grain sales and improving the purchasing and storage capacity of production areas. In terms of rotation, in the face of the unfavorable situation of inverted grain market prices and widening price gaps between new and old grain, Sinograin adhered to putting state interests first and prioritizing the quality of reserve grain, strengthened the rigid constraint of rotation plans, and ensured that central reserve grain and oil are always stored and always fresh. The completion rate of the 2013 rotation plan for central reserve grain was 97%, and the completion rate of the 2014 rotation plan reached over 92%.

At the same time, Sinograin Corporation deepened reform and improved its management mechanism. In 2014 it established three vertical line control mechanisms for personnel, finance and materials and a three-level supervision and inspection system for the quantity and quality of reserve grain, and through regional integrated reform integrated the original 851 directly affiliated depots into 346 central depots. Through implementing intelligent grain depot construction, it built a technical system serving group management and control for remote grain condition monitoring, intelligent grain in-and-out warehouse supervision, and inventory quantity monitoring. In 2014, the intelligent construction of 114 directly affiliated depots was completed, and the plan is for all 346 directly affiliated depots to be covered this year.