What new changes have emerged in China's grain purchase and sales situation?

"Market pricing, separation of price from subsidies" is the new framework for this year's corn reserve system reform determined by the National Development and Reform Commission. It emphasizes returning the price formation mechanism to the market and changes the state-backed temporary reserve policy that had been in operation for many years. What changes has this policy brought? On August 11, the 2016 China Grain and Oil Wealth Forum - Chagan Lake Summer Summit and Jilin Province Grain Production and Marketing Cooperation Negotiation Meeting, hosted by the Jilin Provincial People's Government, was held in Songyuan City, inviting relevant heads of grain administrative departments from 31 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities across the country and representatives of grain-related enterprises to attend and jointly discuss the new situation and new changes in grain purchase and sales.

First, price levels tend to decline, and trading volume has increased somewhat. World corn prices have fallen continuously since leveling off in 2012, and expectations of production exceeding sales have forced corn prices back to the lower level of 2007. Due to increased industrial processing volume and improved prosperity among breeding enterprises, overall corn demand has also increased. During this conference, a total of 190 contracts for corn, rice and miscellaneous grains were signed, with a grain trade volume of 9.48 million tons and a transaction value exceeding 20 billion yuan.

Second, high quality with a high price has become a consensus. Jilin Province is located in the golden corn belt and the golden rice belt, with high planting technology and excellent grain quality. At the signing site, an Economic Daily reporter learned that Jilin's new corn about to be harvested in autumn is favored by users. Zhou Lijie of Guangxi Nanning Reserve Grain Management Co., Ltd. said that Jilin corn is 60 yuan per ton higher than the market price, but because of its high quality, with multiple indicators such as test weight and starch content far ahead, Guangxi still prefers to buy Jilin corn, especially for making feed for small livestock, and Jilin corn accounts for 40% of the corn used in the entire Guangxi region.

Finally, regional cooperation has formed an atmosphere. Due to differences in climate between the north and the south, grain varieties and characteristics are very different, and southern grain sales areas are actively cooperating with high-quality northern grain sources, jointly creating new brands has become a new trend. For example, Beijing Grain Group Guchuan Rice Industry Co., Ltd. and Songyuan City Songliang Group of Jilin Province jointly created the "Guchuan + Chagan Lake" brand. The former's advantage is the local market, while the latter's advantage is high-quality products.