Domestic supplies of wheat and grain in China fell sharply after the beginning of the trade dispute between Beijing and Washington and the imposition of mutual duties, writes Asia Times.
Beijing has imposed duties on imports of wheat, beans and other agricultural products from U.S. in response to U.S. duties on goods from China.
However, China seems to be difficult to fill the gap in supply that occurred after the import of wheat from the U.S. fell sharply. His own economy in the first seven months of 2018 produced by 18.36 million tons of wheat less than in the same period last year. Total production for this period amounted to only 37 million tons, according to the State administration of grain of China’s reserves.
In particular, Henan province in Central China, a major producer of wheat, have put a total of 7.79 million tons.
Some farmers reportedly have switched from wheat to other more profitable crops. Combined with the widespread drought this year, this trend led to lower production.
The reduction in production caused the market concerns about the ability of China to meet domestic demand for wheat, which accounts for 40 percent of grain consumption. It also sparked speculation in the country and abroad about what China may have to increase imports from the United States.
However, industry sources said that decrease in production was caused by internal factors, such as the desire of Beijing to use the large stocks of wheat purchased over the years.
In state reserves contains 126,8 million tons of wheat, the report said chinagrain.cn. For comparison: the volume of annual consumption in China is about 100 million tons, according to Reuters.
State media also noted that there is no need to increase purchases of U.S. wheat to compensate for the decrease in domestic supplies as the diet of the Chinese is gradually changing.
“The diet of consumers becoming more healthy and balanced, which will lead to a decline in demand” for wheat, an expert quoted by the newspaper Global Times.
As reported “Vesti.Economy”, Chinese state media continue to criticize the trade policy of US President Donald trump.
The official newspaper China Daily said that the approval of trump about success fees refute data showing that the trade deficit of the United States in June grew by $3 billion to $46.3 billion, which was the first increase in four months.
Chinese state media is also promoting the idea that the economy is strong enough to survive the “trade war”.
