The picture shows the press conference. Photo by Tang Hongli, website of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs
Main contents: The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs is scheduled to hold a regular press conference in the Information Office of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs at 10: 00 am on Thursday, October 17th to introduce the market operation of key agricultural products in the third quarter and answer questions from reporters.
Attending guests: Ning Qiwen, Director of Market and Information Department of Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Director of Keke Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Bureau, and Deputy Director of General Office of Yang Zhenhai.
Time: October 17, 2019
Venue: Press Conference Hall of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs
[Ning Qiwen, Deputy Director of the General Office of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs]:
Ladies and gentlemen, friends of the media: Good morning! Welcome to the press conference held by the Information Office of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs. The theme of today’s conference is the market operation of key agricultural products in the third quarter. Today, we invited Mr. Keke, Director of the Market and Information Department of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, and Mr. Yang Zhenhai, Director of the Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Bureau of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, to introduce us to the situation and answer questions from reporters. First of all, please ask Director Tang to inform you about the situation.
[Keke, Director of Market and Information Department of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs]:
Ladies and gentlemen, media friends: Good morning! October is a good season for harvest. Thank you for attending today’s regular press conference. First of all, I would like to inform you about the market operation of key agricultural products in the third quarter. In the third quarter, the supply of agricultural products in China was generally abundant, the market operation was basically stable, and the consumption in Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day was effectively guaranteed. The "Agricultural Products Wholesale Price 200 Index" was 111.67, down 1.74 points from the previous month and up 9.48 points from the same period last year. The "food basket" product 200 index was 113.21, down 1.95 points from the previous month and up 10.88 points from the same period last year. The decline in the price index was mainly driven by the decline in the prices of vegetables and fruits; The year-on-year increase was mainly affected by the year-on-year increase in the price of livestock products. In terms of varieties, the prices of vegetables and fruits have dropped. In the first half of the year, the price of vegetables was at a historical high. With the gradual listing of vegetables in autumn, it began to fall seasonally in September, and the national average wholesale price was 1.8% lower than the average level in the same period of three years. This year, the price of fruit was "high before and low after". Since July, with the large number of seasonal fruits such as watermelon on the market, the price began to fall at a high level. In the later period, the market volume of grapes and apples increased, and the price continued to fall, and now it has basically returned to normal level. The overall supply of livestock and aquatic products is sufficient. In the third quarter, the price of livestock products, especially pork, continued to rise, but since September, with the intensive introduction of policies to promote the recovery of pig production capacity and market supply, the staged shortage of pork supply has eased, and the price increase before the National Day has dropped; At the same time,The supply of substitutes such as poultry meat, beef and mutton, eggs and aquatic products is relatively sufficient, which has alleviated the pressure of rising pig prices to some extent. The implementation of pig production support policies was accelerated, and the production situation began to improve. The CPC Central Committee and the State Council attached great importance to the stable production and supply of live pigs, and made continuous arrangements. On August 21, the the State Council executive meeting studied and determined five measures to stabilize the production of live pigs and ensure the supply and price of pork. On August 30, a national video conference was held to stabilize the production of live pigs. On September 6, the General Office of the State Council issued the Opinions on Stabilizing the Production of Live Pigs to Promote Transformation and Upgrading, which made comprehensive arrangements for the stable production and supply of live pigs. All localities and departments have taken active actions to implement various policies and measures to restore and develop pig production, and strive to promote the recovery and development of pig production. At present, the epidemic situation of swine fever in Africa has stabilized, the effects of relevant policies and measures have begun to appear, the positive factors of pig production recovery have increased, and the situation has gradually improved.
Grain prices are basically stable. After the acquisition of wheat and early indica rice in the peak season, the prices were basically stable at the minimum purchase price level, and the purchase prices of state-owned enterprises in the main producing areas were stable at around 112 yuan and 119 yuan per 100 kg, a slight decrease year-on-year. By September 30th, all kinds of grain enterprises in the main producing areas had bought 70.762 million tons of wheat, up 41% year-on-year. Accumulated acquisition of 5.999 million tons of early indica rice, a year-on-year decrease of 23%. In some areas, the price of early-maturing corn began to fall, but it was still higher than the same period of last year, which was generally a normal seasonal fluctuation. After a short-term decline, the corn market price will gradually stabilize, and it is unlikely to fluctuate greatly. This year, summer grain production has increased, and most of autumn grain is growing well. If there is no major natural disaster in the later period, this year will usher in another bumper harvest year. In particular, this year’s Lunar Equinox (September 23rd) ushered in the second China Farmers Harvest Festival. On the occasion of the Harvest Festival, General Secretary of the Supreme Leader sent a letter to express sincere greetings to farmers and comrades working in the front line of agriculture, countryside and farmers. Hundreds of millions of farmers rejoiced and all walks of life felt excited. In this year’s Harvest Festival, farmers’ participation and grass-roots coverage have been further enhanced, the form diversity and content richness have been further enhanced, the interaction and cultural connotation between urban and rural areas have been further enhanced, and the role of strengthening industries and promoting income has been further enhanced. The Harvest Festival has truly become a festival for farmers and a festival to help rural revitalization. According to incomplete statistics, only on the day of the Harvest Festival, more than 3,000 celebrations were held in counties and villages across the country.There are also many activities organized by various departments and all walks of life. The whole country celebrated the bumper harvest and the National Day together, creating a strong atmosphere of emphasizing agriculture and strengthening agriculture and celebrating the 70th anniversary of the founding of New China in the whole society. The role of the Harvest Festival in stimulating domestic demand and activating the market is further manifested, and the activity of "Celebrating the Harvest Consumption Season" has played a positive role in promoting the market circulation of agricultural products. Next, my colleagues and I are willing to answer your questions.
[Ning Qiwen]:
Let’s invite media friends to ask questions around today’s press conference.
[Farmer Daily reporter]:
You just mentioned that vegetable prices have been running at a high level since March this year, and recently they have fallen below the historical level of the same period. What is the reason? What will the market situation be like in the later period?
[Keke]:
Thank you. Indeed, as you said, the price of vegetables has been at a historical high since March this year. Among them, the price of vegetables from April to July was about 12% higher than the average level of the same period in history, and it began to fall seasonally in September. The national average wholesale price of 28 kinds of vegetables monitored by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs was 3.92 yuan per kilogram, down 4.9% from the previous month and 9.3% from the same period last year. In the last three years, the average decrease was 1.8% in the same period, mainly due to the high vegetable prices in the first half of the year and the expansion of the main vegetable producing areas in summer and autumn. This summer, the vegetables in the cold northern region did not experience the extreme high temperature and long-term heavy rainfall like last year, and the weather was favorable. Although some producing areas were affected by unfavorable weather, the prices of some varieties fluctuated greatly in the short term, but from the perspective of the total vegetable output in the main producing areas, the overall market supply situation was obviously better than that in the same period last year. In autumn, the supply of vegetables is sufficient, and the price drops rapidly. It is expected that the fall period of vegetable prices may be extended in the later period. The fluctuation is in line with the seasonal law all the year round, so it is necessary to pay close attention to the influence of unfavorable weather on the conversion of origin and prevent the regional structural fluctuation of vegetable prices. Thank you.
[Xinhua News Agency]:
Just now, Director Tang mentioned that the situation of pig production began to improve, and I saw that the price of pork in the market was still relatively high. I would like to ask, what are the factors based on which the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs judged that the situation of pig production began to improve? When will the supply of pork return to normal in the future? Thank you.
[Keke]:
The production and supply of live pigs is a topic of great concern at present. Director Yang Zhenhai will explain it in detail later. Let me introduce the market price to you first. Generally speaking, the fluctuation of pig price reflects the change of pork supply and demand, and the law of market economy plays a role behind it. Since September, with the intensive introduction of policies and measures to promote the recovery of pig production capacity and market supply, the staged shortage of pork supply has eased, and the price increase has declined before the National Day. According to the monitoring of our Ministry, the weekly price increase of live pigs and pork markets decreased from 5.0% and 6.3% in the first week to 1.6% and 1.0% in the fourth week respectively. The increase of wholesale market price of pork decreased from 5.1% in the first week to 0.2% in the fourth week, and the increase narrowed. During the National Day holiday just past, the pork market was tight, but there was no out-of-stock situation. Poultry, eggs, beef and mutton, aquatic products and other substitutes are in sufficient supply. After the National Day, the price of pigs rose rapidly in stages, mainly due to the decline of pig production capacity in the early stage, the increase of commercial sows in some farms, and the increase of purchasing and storage in various places, which led to a phased decrease in the market volume of commercial fat pigs and a tight market supply. Judging from the later trend, the effects of various targeted policies and measures on the overall production capacity recovery of pigs and stimulating farmers’ enthusiasm are gradually emerging, and the continuous high level of pig breeding profit is also conducive to the recovery of pig production capacity. It is expected that the decline of pig production capacity in China will be improved in the fourth quarter, but the supply of pork market is still tight in the short term.It is expected that pork prices will remain at a high level before New Year’s Day and Spring Festival, but with the gradual storage of frozen meat and the increase in the supply of livestock products such as poultry meat, the supply of livestock products is generally guaranteed. Let me answer your question from this angle first.
[Yang Zhenhai, Director of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Bureau of Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs]:
Just now, Director Tang introduced some information from the price aspect. As we all know, production is the basis of ensuring supply and stabilizing prices. With the implementation of various favorable policies to support pig production and the optimistic market conditions, farmers’ enthusiasm for replenishing livestock and raising livestock has been significantly improved, and the factors for improving production recovery have increased significantly. As a whole, pig production has entered a turning point of stopping falling and rising. We have four indicators as the basis for making this judgment: The first one is that the production of large-scale pig farms has recovered rapidly and the stock of pigs has bottomed out. According to our comprehensive survey of pig farms with an annual output of more than 5,000 pigs in China, there were 44,455,100 pigs in September, an increase of 0.6% from the previous month. The number of fertile sows was 6,104,700, an increase of 3.7% from the previous month. The second item is the reserve sow, that is, the young sow, and the sales volume continues to increase substantially. According to the monitoring of 100 key pig breeding enterprises, the sales volume of reserve sows increased by 70.7% in September. The third item is the overall rebound in pig feed production and sales. According to the statistics of feed production enterprises in China, the output of pig feed increased by 10% in September, among which the output of piglet feed, sow feed and fattening pig feed increased by 12.7%, 8.7% and 9.1% respectively. The fourth item is that the number of live pigs in some major producing provinces has rebounded significantly. In September, the number of live pigs in Liaoning, Shandong, Heilongjiang, Hebei, Shanxi, Gansu and Jilin provinces increased by more than 3% month-on-month, an increase of 6 provinces over August; The number of fertile sows in eight provinces including Gansu, Ningxia, Heilongjiang, Shandong, Tianjin, Shanghai, Beijing and Liaoning increased by more than 3% from the previous month.Six provinces more than in August. Regionally, the number of live pigs in Northeast China, North China, Northwest China and some provinces in the Central Plains has stopped falling and rebounded. The number of live pigs transferred from Henan, the largest province in China, and the number of live pigs and fertile sows both stopped falling and rebounded. The result of the superposition of these four positive factors is that the decline of the national pig population has been significantly narrowed. We have a set of data. In August, the number of live pigs decreased by 9.8%, and it narrowed to 3% in September. In August, the number of fertile sows decreased by 9.1% month on month, and narrowed to 2.8% in September. The narrowing in September was still relatively large, and both indicators narrowed for the first time since March this year. Judging from the situation that the decline in the number of live pigs and the number of fertile sows has obviously narrowed, the production of large-scale pig farms has turned from decline to increase, the output of pig feed has stopped falling and rebounded, and the sales of breeding pigs have continued to increase substantially, all support policies and market factors have greatly helped to boost the confidence of breeding, and the production enthusiasm of farm households is being further improved. According to this trend, the pig production capacity is expected to bottom out before the end of the year, the market supply will gradually increase, and it is expected to basically return to normal level next year.
[China County Economic News reporter]:
In the first half of this year, the price of fruit remained high, and the people paid close attention to the trend of fruit price. May I ask whether the price of fruit has dropped significantly recently, and what is the trend in the later period? Thank you.
[Keke]:
This year, the price of fruit has shown an obvious feature of "high before and low after". In the first half of the year, due to the cold spring in the main producing areas, the output of apples and pears decreased a lot, so the supply in the fruit market was tight and the price continued to rise, which caused widespread concern in society. Since July, with a large number of summer seasonal fruits such as watermelon on the market, fruit prices began to fall from a high level. Later, with the increase of autumn fruits such as grapes, apples and pears, fruit prices further fell, and the current fruit prices basically fell back to normal levels. According to the monitoring of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the national average wholesale price of six kinds of bulk fruits in September was 5.86 yuan per kilogram, down 10.5% from the previous month and up 13.1% from the same period last year. It is expected that fruit prices will continue to fall with the large number of late-maturing Fuji apples and citrus fruits on the market in the later period. Before the end of the year, the price is expected to be lower than the same period last year. It is worth noting that the characteristics of fruit quality differentiation and price differentiation are more prominent this year. There is a certain sales pressure on low-end fruits. All localities should pay attention to strengthening the docking of production and marketing and brand marketing to promote the balanced listing of fruits and increase the income of fruit farmers. thank you
[Reporter from Central Radio and Television General Station]:
Just now, Director Tang mentioned some policies on pigs. Since the end of August, the state has issued a series of policies to support the production of pigs, and also mentioned that the effects have begun to appear. I would like to ask, how are these policies implemented? How is the implementation? What policies will be implemented in the next step? Thank you.
[Yang Zhenhai]:
Thank you for your question. Policy support is the key to speed up the recovery and development of pig production. Since the end of August, the relevant departments have issued 17 policies and measures to support production, and defined a series of policies in finance, finance, land use, standardizing the delineation and management of no-breeding areas, green passages, and supplementary awards for pig production. The policy of combination boxing has a high gold content, which is rare in recent years. During this period, all departments have stepped up efforts to implement policies, such as the Ministry of Ecology and Environment and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs. We sent 20 working groups to 200 pig breeding counties to carry out investigations on the delineation of prohibited areas. The investment in the central budget is about to release the investment plan of 300 million yuan subsidy project for the construction of pig-scale farms. The central government will release the subsidy funds for the culling of African swine fever in the first half of the year, the second batch of agricultural insurance premium subsidies and the newly added 700 million yuan of pigs to be transferred out of large counties. All localities are taking active actions, and we have made a statistic. Up to now, 23 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities across the country have issued policy documents to support the development of pig production, and we have made some summaries. The local support policies are highly targeted and have a very high gold content. For example, Guangdong and Jiangsu have defined the minimum number of pigs to be slaughtered in various cities, Anhui, Fujian and other provinces have provided temporary relief subsidies to the national core breeding farms and large-scale farms, and Zhejiang Province has given 1 million yuan as a subsidy reward for each newly built (expanded) pig farm with more than 10,000 heads, and subsidized 500 yuan for each pig imported from large-scale pig farms, and arranged 900 million yuan for the overall production and epidemic prevention of pigs.Sichuan, Yunnan, Hunan, etc. encourage the use of four wasteland, unused land and inefficient idle land for production, allow the construction of animal husbandry and breeding facilities in Class III and IV protected forest land, and give priority to ensuring the quota of forest land use. Gansu has changed from a net import of pigs to a net export province this year. At present, six large modern pig-raising enterprises have been introduced, and it is expected that 1-2 million pigs will be added next year. Henan Province grants 300,000 yuan subsidy to each decontamination center. We will subsidize 3000 yuan for each imported breeding pig. At present, various policies and measures are being implemented, and many policies aimed at production have been implemented at home. Our Ministry is also stepping up efforts to promote the implementation of various policies. At present, it has set up a pig production dispatching office to dispatch the live pigs and fertile sows in various provinces every month, and conduct monthly follow-up surveys on large-scale pig farms with an annual output of more than 5,000 pigs nationwide. The data just released is the result of the survey. We will further strengthen the monitoring and judgment of pig production situation, and regularly release information to guide production. The next step is to fully promote the implementation of the Opinions of the General Office of the State Council on Stabilizing Pig Production and Promoting Transformation and Upgrading, and urge the provinces that have not issued policies to do so, and the provinces that have already issued policies to put them in place. At the same time, we will continue to strengthen the prevention and control of swine fever in Africa, do a good job in pig breeding technical guidance services, and support pig farms in epidemic areas and epidemic areas to resume production as soon as possible under the premise of ensuring the implementation of biosafety measures, and help farmers expand production. With the implementation of these policies and measures,The recovery of pig production will be better than we expected.
[Reporter from Central Radio and Television General Station]:
The centralized acquisition period of summer wheat is coming to an end. What are the characteristics of this year’s wheat acquisition market and what is the price trend of wheat in the later period?
[Keke]:
Thank you. This year, the wheat yield increased and the quality was good, and the output reached 131.06 million tons, an increase of 2.67 million tons or 2.1% over 2018. The market has sufficient grain supply, active purchase and sale transactions, and the price fluctuates slightly under the support of the minimum purchase price policy, which mainly presents three characteristics. First, the purchase price went high and low, and rose slightly in the later period. At the initial stage of scale opening, the purchase price was higher. With the large number of new wheat listed, the purchase price continued to fall. In the later period, due to the gradual expansion of the acquisition scope of wheat market, the price of wheat stopped falling and stabilized. Second, the price difference between high-quality wheat and ordinary wheat has narrowed. Due to the high quality of common wheat this year, it partially replaced high-quality wheat to some extent, and the low yield of high-quality wheat, the comparative advantage of high-quality wheat cultivation has declined, but the price is still higher than that of common wheat, and the pattern of "high quality and good price" has not changed. Third, the total amount of wheat purchases was higher than that of the previous year, and the minimum purchase price increased. As of September 30th, wheat in the main producing areas had purchased 70.76 million tons, up 41.1% year-on-year. Due to the low purchase price of wheat in the early stage this year, six major producing areas, including Henan, have started the minimum purchase price policy. As of September 30, the minimum purchase price of wheat in the main producing areas totaled 22.27 million tons, a significant increase over last year. Judging from the later trend, wheat consumption has entered the peak season. However, considering the end of the minimum purchase price, the auction of temporary storage wheat will be restarted, and the market supply is abundant. It is expected that the market price will be mainly stable and weak, and it is unlikely to fluctuate greatly. thank you
[People’s Daily reporter]:
We know that African swine fever has occurred in most provinces in China before, and recently the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs announced two more epidemics. Can you tell us about the current prevention and control work and the epidemic situation?
[Yang Zhenhai]:
Grasping the prevention and control of African swine fever is the premise of ensuring the development of pig production. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs has made a series of arrangements. After the African swine fever epidemic was discovered in August 2018, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs resolutely implemented the central decision-making arrangements, earnestly fulfilled the responsibility of taking the lead, quickly established the emergency headquarters for prevention and control, established a ministerial-level joint conference system, and worked with all relevant departments in various places to strengthen monitoring and investigation, strictly report the epidemic situation, decisively deal with the epidemic situation, block the transmission route, and compact the responsibilities of all parties, and fully grasp the prevention and control of African swine fever. As of October 16th, 157 cases of African swine fever have been reported in China, and 1.192 million pigs have been culled. The blockade of epidemic areas in 28 provinces has been lifted. On the whole, the epidemic situation of African swine fever in China has obviously slowed down, and the order of pig production, transportation and marketing has basically returned to normal. Recently, two more epidemics have occurred in some provinces, indicating that the current situation of prevention and control of African swine fever is still complicated and severe, and the possibility of sporadic outbreaks is still great. We must not take it lightly, let alone be careless. More than a year’s practice has proved that African swine fever can be prevented and controlled. As long as we persistently implement the existing effective measures and effectively improve the level of biosafety management, the situation of epidemic prevention and control will continue to improve. In the next step, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs will continue to urge and guide all localities to implement various prevention and control measures, especially for the problem of subsidies for pig culling that farmers are concerned about. We have coordinated the Ministry of Finance to change the annual settlement to semi-annual settlement, and the funds for the first half of the year will be allocated to all localities in the near future. Take this opportunity,I also remind the vast number of farmers to truly implement various measures for biosafety protection, actively cooperate with epidemic monitoring and investigation, and report abnormal deaths of pigs in a timely manner. We also welcome the vast number of farmers and all sectors of society to supervise the prevention and control work, especially the problems of not reporting the epidemic situation in time and truthfully in some places and concealing the epidemic situation. We will maintain a zero-tolerance attitude, find out together, investigate together, and will never tolerate it. Here, I’d like to announce the epidemic report number again, 010-59194768, so everyone can reflect the situation at any time.
[Southern Metropolis Daily reporter]:
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that China and the United States have reached a phased agreement. In the middle of this year, they have purchased 20 million tons of soybeans from the United States, and will continue to accelerate the purchase of American agricultural products in the future. What impact will this have on China’s agricultural market?
[Keke]:
We have been paying close attention to the progress of economic and trade negotiations between China and the United States and its impact on the domestic agricultural products market. Since the Sino-US economic and trade friction, the import of agricultural products in China has been most affected by soybeans. The number of soybeans imported from the United States decreased significantly. From January to August this year, China’s total soybean imports were 56.39 million tons, down about 9% year-on-year, of which US imports accounted for only 15%, down about 11 percentage points compared with the same period of last year. However, due to the diversification of China’s soybean import countries, the promotion of feed low-protein formula technology and the substitution of other oils and fats, the domestic soybean market was basically stable and the price changes were not obvious. In September this year, the after-tax price of imported soybeans in Shandong was 1.66 yuan per catty, up 2.2% month-on-month and down 4.1% year-on-year. With the recovery of soybean production in China and the further expansion of the import scope of soybeans and substitutes, it is expected that the soybean market supply will be generally guaranteed. At the same time, Sino-US economic and trade frictions have also brought some impacts on China’s aquatic products export and cotton market. From January to August this year, the export of aquatic products in China was $13.3 billion, down 6.5% year-on-year. Cotton is affected by the expected downturn in downstream consumption, and its price is weak. In September, the average monthly price of domestic 3128B cotton was 13,008 yuan per ton, down 3.9% from the previous month and 20.3% from the same period last year. As you all know, China and the United States started a new round of high-level consultations and negotiations on economic and trade issues of common concern on October 10 and 11, and made substantial progress in agriculture and other fields. We will continue to follow up and analyze the subsequent impact. Thank you.
[Reporter of China Rural Magazine]:
As far as we know, new corn has been listed this year, and the purchase price of corn in some areas has continued to fall. I would like to ask Secretary Tang what is the current situation of corn purchase and sale? What characteristics will the price trend show in the later period?
[Keke]:
Thank you. According to our dispatch, since late September, new corn in North China and early-maturing new corn in Northeast China have been listed, and the prices have dropped, but the price level is still higher than the same period of last year, and the overall situation is still normal seasonal fluctuation. Some processing enterprises in Shandong Province have slightly lowered the purchase price of corn since the beginning of September, and the price dropped to less than 2,000 yuan per ton at the end of September. At present, the mainstream purchase price is 1850 -1990 yuan per ton, which is generally 10-30 yuan lower than before the National Day and 10-90 yuan higher than the same period last year. After the National Day, processing enterprises in Northeast China also began to buy new corn, although it was lower than the price of old corn, but it was also slightly higher than last year’s opening price. Judging from the later trend, the corn production situation is generally good this year, and the output is expected to remain stable. With the gradual recovery of pig production capacity and the recovery of feed consumption, it is expected that the supply and demand of corn in China will remain basically stable, and the corn market price will gradually stabilize after a short-term decline, which is unlikely to fluctuate greatly, reminding farmers and friends to sell grain by camera and realize high yield and bumper harvest. thank you
[Ning Qiwen]:
Thank you, media friends, for your strong support. Today’s press conference is over. Thank you!