China's grain prices are stable and the public does not need to snap up and hoard
【Authorized release】
On the afternoon of April 4, Wei Baigang, director of the Department of Development and Planning of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, said at a press conference held by the Joint Defense and Joint Control Mechanism of the State Council that China ’s current grain production is abundant and its stocks are sufficient, even when the domestic epidemic was severe in the previous stage The food and all kinds of non-staple foods in the market are fully sold at a stable price, and there is no need to buy and hoard now. "It's better to eat new food." Wei Baigang said.
With the rapid spread of the New Coronary Pneumonia epidemic worldwide, some countries have begun to restrict or ban food exports, causing international food prices to rise, and food security has become a hot topic. Many people in the country are now concerned about whether the food is enough to eat, whether or not to hoard. In this regard, Wei Baigang said that the recent increase in international food prices is more affected by panic consumption caused by the epidemic. He provided four sets of data to eliminate public concerns. One is grain output. In recent years, China ’s grain harvest has been steadily increasing for more than five years and has been stable at more than 1.3 trillion catties. Last year, grain output was 13.277 trillion catties, a record high, and the absolute safety of rations is guaranteed. The second is the amount of food per capita. Since 2010, China's per capita food consumption has continued to be higher than the world average. In 2019, it exceeded 470 kg, far higher than the international standard of food security of 400 kg per capita. The third is grain stocks. At present, China has sufficient food stocks, and the stock consumption ratio is much higher than the 17% to 18% safety level proposed by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Especially for the two rations, wheat and rice stocks are roughly equivalent to the annual consumption of the people of the country. The fourth is cereal imports. China ’s annual cereal imports are not large. Last year, net imports were 14.68 million tons, equivalent to less than 30 billion catties, accounting for only about 2% of China ’s cereal consumption.
"The impact of rising international food prices on domestic food prices is very limited." Wei Baigang said that China's imports are mainly strong gluten weak wheat, Thai rice, etc. The purpose is to adjust the demand structure to better meet people's personalized and diversified Consumer demand. Since March, the retail price of rice in China is 6.6 yuan per kilogram and the retail price of flour is 3.95 yuan per kilogram. The price has remained stable and the market supply has been stable. China's wheat and rice stocks are sufficient. Once the grain market fluctuates, there will be sufficient control measures to stabilize it, and it is fully capable of coping with external influences.
Pan Wenbo, director of the Department of Planting Management of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, said that at present, the area of the two rations of rice and wheat in China is basically stable at 800 million mu. With a population of 1.4 billion in China, 2 people have more than one mu of grain rations. The average output of one mu of land is 800 kg. Now the per capita consumption of rations is 150 kg. The production of rations is guaranteed.
It is understood that the composition of China's grain inventory mainly includes government reserves, policy inventory, and enterprise commodity inventory. In addition, there are some farmers who store grain, and this part is usually not counted in the scope of stocks. Qin Yuyun, director of the Grain Reserve Department of the State Grain and Material Reserve Bureau, said that in recent years, China's total grain inventory has continued to run at a high level, and the current stock of rice and wheat can meet the market's consumer demand for more than one year. In many cities, the market supply capacity of finished grains, namely flour and rice, is over 30 days.
"Since the outbreak, the grain and material reserve department has strengthened market grain resource dispatching and organized an orderly auction of policy grain sources to effectively protect market demand. So far, no central reserve grains have been used. Except for individual cities and counties, most areas Nor have they used local grain reserves. "Qin Yuyun said. "As for whether to hoard rice, I don't think it's necessary at all." Qin Yuyun reminded that rice and flour are not easy to keep at home, and they are prone to worms. After a long time, the quality and taste will decline. Consumers are advised to purchase in appropriate amounts according to family needs.
Wang Hong, Director of the Department of Safe Warehousing and Science and Technology of the State Grain and Material Reserve Bureau, said that China has initially established a grain emergency security system that meets the national conditions, has a two-level monitoring system, covers key regions and key varieties, and can closely track market fluctuations and master Food supply and demand changes and price dynamics.
"As of now, there are 5,388 emergency processing enterprises nationwide, of which 4,750 have been reinstated, with a reinstatement rate of 88.2%; the processing capacity of reinvented enterprises for wheat and rice is 962 thousand tons per day, equivalent to 1.92 billion kg, calculated on the basis of one person per kg of food per day, The daily processing capacity of these emergency food processing enterprises alone is enough to eat 1.4 billion people across the country for more than one day. "Wang Hong said that sufficient raw grain reserves, moderate finished food reserves, and strong emergency processing capacity of the enterprises can ensure that China ’s Food supply needs during the epidemic.
(Reporter Beijing, April 4th, reporter Yaxiong Zhang)