June 12, 2012

China announces wheat state stockpiling programme

China has announced the state stockpiling programme for the 2012 wheat crops from May 21 to September 30, the National Development and Reform Commission published on its website.

The stockpiling work will be undertaken in six major producing provinces of Hebei, Jiangsu, Anhui, Shandong, Henan and Hubei if market prices fall below the floor purchase price of RMB2,040/tonne (US$320) in that period.

China is expected to begin the summer grain harvesting soon. The Ministry of Agriculture earlier predicted that the country would achieve bumper summer harvests this year given better-than-normal weather conditions and rise of planting area.

Summer grain crops mainly include winter wheat and early rice, making up over 20% of the full year's production.