Chapter 106 Food War: The Hidden Weapon Behind the Pillar of Hegemony
Jiusan Grain and Oil Group.
One of the first 151 key leading enterprises in agricultural industrialization in the country, it will also be the largest domestic soybean crushing enterprise in the future.
In later generations, it is often called the largest national oil processing enterprise.
In the past two years, Jiusan Group has attracted attention from the outside world because of its insistence on processing local non-GMO soybeans.
But in fact, this company has been in a dilemma recently in the face of the impact of genetically modified soybeans.
Shi Chao walked into the big boss's office with a heavy face,
"Chairman, here is an article. I think it would be better for you to read it yourself."
"Oh?"
The chairman's name is Xue Liqiang. He is a middle-aged man in the prime of life. He is tall and thin, but his skin is brownish-black.
He curiously took the newspaper from the stranger's hand.
The first thing that caught his eye was the huge title - Food War: The Hidden Weapon Behind the Pillar of Hegemony!
Just reading the title, Xue Liqiang felt a murderous aura coming towards his face.
And combined with the difficulties that the Jiu San Group was facing, he vaguely felt something and couldn't help but read it carefully.
The article uses ‘cars and pigs’ as an entry point, starting from the rise of biodiesel and bioethanol companies around the world.
Since 1978, President Carter of the United States has ordered ADM to start researching biofuels, and it has been until now.
With the continuous advancement of technology, a large amount of corn and soybeans are consumed as bioethanol and diesel.
U.S. corn exports, which account for 70% of the world's total trade volume, have increased significantly. The decrease has led to a sharp rise in corn futures prices and feed prices.
Finally it was passed on to Zhu Price.
The rise in pork prices is caused by oil.
Xue Liqiang laughed knowingly. The angle of the article was quite interesting. The food war between cars and pigs was really novel.
But what happened next made him more interested. Xue Liqiang, who had been leaning on the boss's chair, sat up straight, with a look of surprise in his eyes.
As the article progresses, the four major grain merchants are constantly mentioned.
ADM, Bunge, Cargill, Louis Dreyfus.
Jiusan Group, as one of the leaders of grain and oil processing enterprises in Northeast China, has just completed its expansion in the province this year, and its organic agricultural product base covers the entire province.
We are currently planning to cross the Longjiang River, move toward the coast, and integrate with the world.
It took the step of cross-border trade as early as two or three years ago.
We also plan to build factories along the coast, but we want to build an organic product processing and export base.
In the past two years, Jiu San's organic agricultural products have been very popular overseas. The red kidney bean varieties introduced and grown since childhood have been underwritten by Japanese merchants.
European countries and the Gulf region are very fond of organic soybeans
This is also an important magic weapon that supports the Jiusan Group to survive in the face of the offensive of genetically modified soybeans.
For this reason, Xue Liqiang asked himself that he had a certain understanding of multinational grain merchants.
But until then, he realized that what he had learned was only the tip of the iceberg.
The article gives a detailed introduction to the four major grain merchants.
ADM, founded in 1902, has a revenue of more than 50 billion US dollars, and its huge network of relationships made Xue Liqiang understand the meaning of the article title.
Powerful figures who are directly related to the development of ADM include government heads such as Carter, Reagan, and George W. Bush, financial industry giants such as Buffett's son, foreign government officials such as the Prime Minister of Canada and Argentine government ministers, and industrial giants such as DuPont Group and Procter & Gamble.
However, even so, ADM ranks low among the four major grain merchants.
Bunge, founded in 1818, entered China in 2000 and is now the largest soybean importer in China.
Louis Dreyfus, founded in 1851, is the third largest grain merchant in the world and the grain merchant with the deepest domestic presence. It made its first business with China in 1973 and is the foreign-funded group with the most say in the domestic agricultural product futures market.
Cargill, founded in 1865, is the world’s largest grain merchant!
It currently holds many crowns on its head: the world's largest privately held company, the world's largest grain trading company, the world's largest livestock breeding company, the largest corn feed processor in the Americas...
its annual operations With a revenue of nearly 100 billion US dollars, it ranks higher than Citigroup, Samsung, Nestlé, JPMorgan Chase and Berkshire Hathaway in the Fortune 500 rankings.
It is the most low-key Fortune 50 company in the world!
However, such a multinational group has not yet been listed on the market.
Perhaps, keeping a low profile is also a strategy.
The most secretive thing is Cargill’s senior management team. The detailed background and professional information of its senior executives are unknown!
The long development history, exaggerated financial strength, and global industrial layout of the four major grain merchants are daunting!
Xue Liqiang suddenly remembered Kissinger's words, "If you control food, you control all mankind!"
What is frightening is that there are three of the four major grain merchants. They all originated in the United States, with the only exception Louis Dreyfus having inextricable ties with the U.S. government.
It is the countries across the ocean that truly control the lifeblood of global food!
Sure enough, the article then introduced how the United States uses food weapons to conquer the world.
Just after World War II, food shortages were a common phenomenon around the world, and millions of people in Europe were suffering from hunger. At this time, the United States appeared.
Provide food to France and Italy on credit to prevent them from being diverted to the Soviet Union;
At the same time, in order to restrain the Soviet Union from moving south, the United States provided food aid when Pakistan suffered a drought, and the United States next door India is not so lucky, and there is no chance of being a loser.
The United States has gained a lot of followers through food and is making trouble all over the world. However, if you want to eat other people's food, you can't smash other people's pots.
Before the disintegration of the Soviet Union, the socialist countries in Eastern Europe had not caught a single grain of rice.
As time goes by, America’s food weapons are constantly iteratively updated.
In 1985, the United States dropped the price of rice from 16 cents to 8 cents per catty. American farmers were subsidized, but Thai farmers could only stop production and sell their land.
In 1996, Argentina, which was suffering from a debt crisis, came up with a new idea: selling soybeans, genetically modified ones. Companies such as Monsanto of the United States and the four major grain merchants began to enter Argentina.
In less than a few years, local agricultural enterprises in Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and other places closed down in batches.
One vivid case after another was cited.
The joint embargo, the external intellectual property stick, the internal large-scale industrial subsidies, and the United States’ food weapons are constantly iteratively updated.
Now it seems to be the turn of agricultural futures.
Using the financial market to control the spot market of agricultural products has always been an important means for the four major grain merchants.
The domestic DCE and Zhengzhou Commercial Exchange are obviously not yet mature.
To some extent, it has become an excellent tool for grain merchants to achieve their own goals.
The article takes soybean futures as an example and emphasizes that the domestic soybean industry is in danger!
The country does not have the power to set international grain prices, and this is precisely the ultimate weapon of the four major grain merchants!
The world's most developed agricultural futures trading center is in Chicago, which provides a price benchmark for American and global agricultural products.
A key factor affecting Chicago futures prices is the various reports and speeches issued by the US Department of Agriculture!
The US government only needs to use its words to affect the prices of global agricultural products!
Since the end of 2003, international funds have been buying large amounts of soybeans in Chicago,
and the US Department of Agriculture has been continuously lowering the production of American soybeans!
A few black and thick fonts stimulated Xue Liqiang's nerves, making him think about it and break out in a cold sweat!
Fake statement!
False report!
Xue Liqiang raised his head and looked at his assistant in shock, "Xiao Shi, please look for the monthly supply and demand reports released by the US Department of Agriculture in recent months!"
Shi Chao will The information in hand was handed to the chairman, "It has been verified. Since August last year, the US Department of Agriculture has continuously lowered US soybean production and ending stocks due to weather conditions, and at the same time predicted an increase in domestic soybean imports!"
Xue Liqiang murmured to himself, "The initial price is too high, and many manufacturers are waiting and watching."
Shi Chao went on to say: "There was pressure from above before, but now the policy has been relaxed."
Xue Liqiang also suddenly thought of something,
Since October last year, domestic new beans have been intensively supplied to the market. , the price should have been weak, but due to the influence of the international market, domestic soybean purchase prices have also skyrocketed amid the rush to buy!
Now the price of soybeans has risen all the way to 4,000 yuan/ton!
The US Department of Agriculture is still lowering its production forecast.
Under the influence of market information asymmetry, international grain merchants and financial institutions consciously mislead domestic enterprises, resulting in the purchasing behavior of "buying up and not buying down".
Just like stock trading, chasing the rise and killing the fall is the standard configuration of leeks.
Not only is the article filled with worries, Xue Liqiang is also becoming more and more frightened the more he reads it!
What should we do if the information is really false?
The suggestion of the article is that if you must import, remember to reserve funds and do hedging in the futures market to hedge risks!
He couldn't help but look at the signature - Tianhe Seed Industry.
"Tianhe Seed Industry? I have never heard of this company in the industry. Where did it come from?"
Shi Chao shook his head, "Tianhe Seed Industry was just established. It has been mainly engaged in pepper seeds for more than a year. It is very popular in the pepper field this year."
"No soybean seeds?"
"The contact information was left in the newspaper. I asked and heard about them. Soybean varieties will be available soon ”
"Oh."
Xue Liqiang was silent for a while, tapping his fingers gently on the Nanmu desk.
“Do you think this article is credible?”
Shi Chao couldn’t answer. Jiusan Group has opened up overseas trade channels in the past two years.
Since Jiusan Group’s soybeans obtained international organic product certification, they have been exported to Japan, Germany, Britain, the Gulf and other countries and regions.
This has to be said to be ironic.
Organically certified soybeans are exported abroad, but genetically modified soybeans are imported domestically.
“Why don’t we ask the foreign businessmen who cooperate with us?”
“This is the only way.”
Xue Liqiang sighed helplessly:
"The US Department of Agriculture is the main source of international soybean market information and has always relied on its free release of basic global soybean data to make purchasing decisions. This risk is indeed too great."
"We have to guard against it."
It didn’t take long for Shi Chao to get some useful information from foreign businessmen.
“Some foreign businessmen suggested that we slow down the construction of factories along the coast.”
“The reason is that we are the only one of the four major soybean-producing countries that produces non-GMO soybeans. They also want to Eat high-quality soy products ”
Xue Liqiang pondered for a while. As international soybean prices strengthened, domestic soybean farmers became very reluctant to sell.
"Just wait."
If international grain merchants and the US Department of Agriculture really work closely together, soybean prices will definitely come down.
……
Not only Jiusan Group, but also many domestic soybean companies have seen this report.
Many private enterprises do not think so.
There is a lot of talk about genetically modified soybeans in China, but are they still not allowed to do so now?
As for the US Department of Agriculture’s joint release of false information, it has lowered its production forecast for six months in a row. Could it be all false?
At most, the production is not reduced that much!
In the end, 97 large domestic processing enterprises such as Huanong, Jinshi, Fuhong, Rizhao Oil Factory, Heze Oil Factory, Yangjiang Fengyuan Group, Qinzhou Dayang Oil Factory, etc., just like history repeating itself, imported large quantities in high-level groups Soybeans.
As for hedging, some companies listened to the advice and invested some funds, but there are also many companies that went naked.
National Grain Group.
"Leader, the investigation is clear. Since the beginning of the year, soybean stocks at some domestic ports have been overstocked, but many companies are still following up with each other and chasing higher imports."
"Yes. ”
“What are we going to do?”
How to do it? The leader doesn’t know either.
No matter whether the United States releases false news or not, people and their younger brothers have been protesting. The big sticks of tariffs and quotas are held in their hands and may fall at any time.
What’s more, these companies are like A-share leeks and have gone crazy long ago when encountering a bull market.
Only one part can be saved.
“Reply to the higher ups. According to Tianhe’s suggestion, all companies within the system that import soybeans are required to hedge in the futures market.”
"Enterprises may not have that much capital."
"Even farmers in the three eastern provinces know how to hedge risks in the futures market. If you can't do this, something really goes wrong, and even gods can't save it."
“Shopping malls are inherently wars where no gunpowder can be seen!”
At least this time I have seen all their methods clearly. The leader’s eyes stayed at the end of the article: cracking the four major grain merchants The key to monopoly is to develop domestic agricultural production and increase agricultural productivity.
However, the domestic soybean industry has natural flaws: huge demand, but insufficient arable land.
Based on the current demand for soybeans, if we want to be self-sufficient, we will have to devote 700 million acres of land to soybean cultivation.
This is completely unrealistic and affects the security of staple food.
But if international grain merchants target domestic wheat, how to crack it?
The leaders couldn’t help but sigh with emotion,
The four major grain merchants!
Frankly speaking, after hundreds of years of ups and downs and many wars but still standing proudly, there is much that Chinese enterprises can learn from it.
China also needs such national enterprises too much.
Once we lose control of agriculture, we lose the pricing power of agricultural products, and then lose more things.
……
At the same time.
After handing the written article to Xie Shijie to contact major industry newspapers and periodicals, Guo Yang went into retreat alone.
That is, targeted cultivation of soybean seeds.
The first to bear the brunt is soybeans, and red grade seeds are not extravagant.
But with 291 points of natural energy in hand, purple grade soybean seeds have to be shot.
(End of this chapter)