China Agri News Week 21, 2020
This is the news overview of week 21 from the agricultural team of the Netherlands Embassy in Beijing.
COVID-19 is Affecting China’s Feed Industry
COVID-19 is significantly affecting China's feed industry. In the first months of 2020, the impact of the epidemic manifested mainly in blocked international trade, increased import costs and prices, and unstable market expectations. For the long term this has caused an increased uncertainty of imports of feed materials such as soybeans, fish meal, and whey powder. Some international ports have been closed, and more than 10 countries have suspended the export of agricultural products such as soybeans and corn to China.
The changes caused a significant price increase. The closing price of the main corn contract in March was 263 euro, an increase of more than 29 euro YoY, an increase of 12.6%, an increase of 6.6% MoM. The main contract price of soybean meal was 377 euro, an increase of nearly 58 euro YoY, an increase of 18.1%, an increase of 12.4% MoM. Imported fishmeal in March was 1.623 euros per ton, an increase of 183 euro YoY, an increase of 12.7%, and an increase of 3.5% MoM (source, Chinese only: China Feed Industry Information Network).
Chinese Flower Production and Consumption Continued to Grow in 2019
On May 12th, the China Flower Association published its analysis of China’s flower market. Data showed that Chinas large-scale foliage plant production grew in 2019. Also, flower products continue to gain popularity as diversified and personalized household goods. Consumers increasingly use the internet and delivery services to get their fresh-cut flowers. The convenience of these services improved overall transaction volume, however, traditional flower market facilities continue to lose market share (source, Chinese only: China Flower Paper).
China Adopts General Standard for Children’s Snack
On May 17th, China Non-staple Food Circulation Association released the General Standard for Children Snack Food. It is the first standard for children's snack food in China. The standard sets nutritional demands, fat, sugar, salt intake values, and raw material and food additive requirements. Furthermore, the new standard also draws up rules on package design and safety. The new standard takes effect on June 15th, 2020 (source: Chemlinked).
China in Search of Garden Design Chinese Garden Floriade 2022
The China Flower Association is openly soliciting design plans for China’s outdoor exhibition park at the 2022 Floriade Amsterdam – Almere in the Netherlands. The soliciting process is open to Chinese and foreign designs. Designs should be sent in the latest May 31st, 2020. The China Flower Association will select the winner (source, Chinese only: China Flower Association).
Ministry of Agriculture Continues Efforts to Protect Development Pig Industry
On May 12th, the Ministry of Agriculture held the national African swine fever joint prevention and control mechanism video conference in Beijing. During the meeting, the ministry emphasized repeatedly the importance of promoting prevention and control measurements for the pig industry to recover, and with that, ensuring a sufficient supply of pork products (source, Chinese only: Farmers’ Daily, May 13th).
Short News:
- For the National People’s Congress Meeting, the Animal Welfare International Cooperation Committee will propose several amendments to the Animal Husbandry Law. It is expected that amendments of the "animal welfare law" will also be proposed (source, Chinese only: ICCAA).
- The construction of Beijing Pinggu Intelligent Pig Farm has started. It is expected to be completed and put into production at the end of September 2020, with a production capacity of 120 thousand pigs per year (source, Chinese only: Farmers’ Daily, May 15th).
- JD set up an Agricultural Data Research Center in Chengdu (source, Chinese only: Farmers’ Daily, May 18th).