EU, Canada, U.S. battle for China’s pork market
Global pork trade is facing new dynamics, driven by price developments, new trade deals, political turmoil and more challenging business environments, according to RaboResearch’s latest “Global Pork Quarterly” report.
“While China’s pork imports have begun to slow down, other traditional importing countries have reported significant growth,” said Chenjun Pan, RaboResearch senior analyst – animal protein. “Looking to the second half of 2017, global pork supply is expected to increase further, and competition for global consumers will intensify.”
This potential softening bias on prices contrasts with the stability of the Rabobank Five-Nation Hog Price Index thus far in 2017.
In the first five months of 2017, China’s pork imports were flat, which contrasts with the significant growth seen in the first half of 2016. Rabobank said the recovery of local production and strong international prices is believed to be responsible for slower imports.
“In China, pork prices have declined by 30%, from the record levels of last year. As a result, Chinese traders are taking a more cautious approach to imports in 2017,” the analysis noted.
Rabobank holds the view that China’s pork production will increase by about 2% in 2017. “Hog production recovery was faster than expected in (the first half), as many producers shared a positive view of the market and made rapid herd replenishments,” the report said.
While the hog production expansion should continue in the second half of 2017, Rabobank said it has been slowed by the price plunge during the second quarter.
“The emergence of these new trade dynamics will be the most important market development in the second half of this year,” according to Justin Sherrard, RaboResearch global strategist – animal protein.
During the third quarter, Rabobank reported that the European Union experienced slower exports due to strong prices.
“Tight supply and firm demand have maintained upward pressure on prices and starting to challenge exporters. In this context, the recently announced trade pact with Japan, offering tariff reductions, is good news for European exporters,” the report said.
In the U.S., pork exports still face uncertainty due to potential trade policy changes and a strong currency but have been better than expected thus far in 2017, Rabobank said.
“With weaker demand from China offset by stronger demand from Mexico, total exports are expected to increase by about 10%, compared with 2016. Increasing U.S. exports are becoming even more important as production continues to expand,” the report noted.
From a domestic standpoint, Rabobank said two new processing plants coming on line in the U.S. late this summer will change the shape of the U.S. pork industry expansion that has been occurring over the last few years. The plants will add 7% to U.S. packing capacity, according to the report, and couldn’t come at a better time.
“As hog numbers have climbed in recent years, plant capacity has struggled to keep up, leaving capacity in short supply come late (in the fourth quarter), when hog numbers are at their seasonal peak,” the report said.
The capacity expansion story doesn’t end in 2017, Rabobank pointed out, as one of the new plants will add a second shift in the summer of 2018, and another large plant will open in early 2019.
Rabobank stressed the need for the U.S. to expand pork exports, because the increased hog supplies will likely struggle to find a home in the domestic market. Currently, the U.S. pork industry exports about 23% of production.
In Brazil, the meat industry continues to face great challenges as a result of political turmoil. Exports in recent months have declined significantly. Pork exports alone have decline by approximately 4% year over year in the first five months of 2017, which opened the door for other countries. This happened particularly in the Chinese market, where pork imports from Brazil during this period declined 22%. The steep declines were offset, however, as Russia -- the largest destination for Brazil's pork exports -- increased imports by 10%, by volume.
Rabobank noted that even with these challenges, Brazil’s pork market is still expected to deliver a positive result due to the smaller supply, lower feed prices and a favorable exchange rate.
Source: Feedstuff. Date: 2017-07-26
Citrus harvest on track to break records due to increased interest from China
Southern Australia citrus growers are on track to produce another record-breaking harvest.
For the first time China looks set to become the top export destination for citrus this year, thanks to the free trade agreement between the two countries.
Citrus Australia chief executive Judith Damiani said next month was the start of the peak for harvest and exports.
“We’re expecting the main crop, navels, to be up 10 per cent in tonnages this year compared to last year.
“That’s mostly due to a recovery from last year’s lighter crop.”
Last year Australia produced 260,000 tonnes of citrus. Navels account for 80 per cent of citrus exports.
Ms Damiani said export demand for navels continued to outstrip supply.
“We’re experiencing phenomenal demand from China,” she said.
Last year China was the second biggest importer of Australian citrus, behind Japan, but Ms Damiani predicted China would be take top spot this year.
Last year 40,000 tonnes of Australia citrus was sold to China.
“Demand from Japan has grown slowly in the past eight years but since 2103 China has taken off,” she said.
Ms Damiani credited Australia’s reputation for producing safe, premium foods, and the China-Australia FTA of 2015, with its incremental tariff reductions, for the growing interest from China.
Other factors included the Australian crop being grown counter-seasonally to Asian grown fruit, and China’s increasing affluence.
Ms Damiani said the outlook for prices was “buoyant” with $328 million of citrus sold last year.
Nutrano farming division executive manager Richard Byllaardt said the citrus growing and exporting company now had 650ha at Mildura, Queensland and in the Northern Territory.
The Mildura harvest was well under way, he said.
“The taste and flavour is as good as we’ve ever tasted, thanks to the cooler summer.”
Mr Byllaardt said Nutrano’s sales to China had doubled this year and the company would send more than 100 containers of citrus to the major cities.
He said prices were “in line” with last year”.
Nutrano planned to extend citrus acreage by 25 per cent this year in response to the Chinese demand.
Source: Weekly Times. Date: 2017-07-26
China's Agricultural Imports Rise Rapidly in 2017
CHINA - China's imports of major agricultural products continued to increase fast in the first five months of the year, driven by price gaps between domestically produced products and imported products, according to the Ministry of Agriculture.
Wheat imports between January and May reached 2.2 million metric tons, an increase of 67.3 per cent year-on-year, while import of soybeans increased by nearly 20 per cent to 37 million tons, and imports of beef rose by 14 per cent during the period, compared with the same period last year, Wang Ping, deputy chief of the ministry's Department of Market and Economic Information, said at a news conference on Monday.
China imported 1.68 million tons of wheat and associated products between January and April, an increase of 94 percent over the same period last year, Wang said, citing figures from the General Administration of Customs.
Imports of some major agricultural products kept increasing quickly between 2011 and 2016, with grain imports increasing at an average annual rate of 32.2 per cent, meat at an average annual rate of 24.9 per cent, and dairy at 16.6 per cent during the five-year period, according to the ministry.
"A rapid increase in imports has also had a great impact on China's domestic market for agricultural products," Mr Wang said.
"Due to a sustained increase in imports, it is predicted that beef and mutton prices in the domestic market may fall slightly this year."
The prices of many agricultural products produced in China are higher than the international level due to higher production costs, according to the Ministry of Agriculture. An exception is corn, whose average wholesale price was 1.58 yuan (23 cents) per kilogram in the first part of the year, similar to the international level, a decrease of 14.4 per cent year-on-year, according to the ministry.
Dairy industry analyst Song Liang said the average cost of dairy products in China was at least 20 per cent higher than in the European Union, largely due to higher production costs resulting from limited resources such as water and grazing land. This has caused a rapid increase in dairy imports, he said.
Due to causes such as increasing supply, prices of agricultural products in China in general have kept falling since the beginning of this year, with prices of fresh and perishable products, such as vegetables, pork, chicken and eggs seeing the biggest decline, Mr Wang, from the Ministry of Agriculture, said.
For example, the price of eggs decreased to their lowest in the last 10 years in the first half of the year before rebounding recently, and the price of poultry also declined in the first half of the year, Mr Wang said.
The major causes were increased production, as a result of higher poultry and egg prices two years ago and the falling prices of feed such as corn, and an increase in H7N9 bird flu cases during the first half of the year in China, he said.
The price of eggs started to rise in June due to reduced supply following sustained lower prices since late last year, Mr Wang said.
Egg prices may continue to rise in the second half of the year, but at a slow rate due to adequate supply, he said.
The prices of some other major agricultural products, such as pork and vegetables, may also rebound in the second half of the year, Mr Wang said.
Source: The Poultry Site. Date: 2017-07-26
Cambodia’s first banana exports
Cambodia exported its first shipment of 100 tonnes of yellow bananas to China via Vietnam on Saturday, said a Ministry of Agriculture official.
“This shipment of bananas is a first for Cambodia and these yellow bananas can be stored for up to 3 months after harvest in a room with refrigeration,” said Hean Vanhan, director-general of the Agriculture Ministry’s general directorate of agriculture.
“The 100 tonnes of yellow bananas from Anh Andong Meas Company’s plantations, in Sambor district in Ratanakkiri province, were exported in five refrigerated containers,” he added.
Mr Vanhan said Cambodia had negotiated with Vietnam to allow the shipment to transit in the country before it reaches China.
“There are other types of bananas besides the yellow ones, but they can’t be exported. They can only be stored for three days,” he said.
Three banana species – yellow, sugar and green – are all widely grown in Cambodia.
According to Mr Vanhan, Anh Andong Meas grows yellow bananas on 1,000 hectares of land.
“In total, the company has 10,000 hectares planted with all kinds of fruits for export.”
The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries is also encouraging mango farmers to export their fruit harvests to South Korea.
South Korea has not placed a limit on the amount of mangoes it will import from Cambodia but requires suppliers to upgrade their processing facilities by installing steaming technology to eradicate insects that may be on the fruit or inside packaging.
A local subsidiary of Hyundai Corporation, the South Korean conglomerate, is sinking $4 million into developing a processing and distribution centre in Cambodia for mangoes and other fruits.
Fresh Keo Romeat mangoes from Cambodia are popular in neighbouring Thailand and are exported daily from Kampong Speu and northwestern Battambang through the Pong Namron border crossing in the eastern Thai province of Chantaburi.
Source: Khmer Times. Date: 2017-07-25
Vietnam's booming craft beer scene
A night out drinking in Vietnam used to mean one thing: sipping Bia Hoi, a local draft beer with 3% alcohol content, from a tiny stool on the sidewalk.
But feather-light lagers aren't the only game in town anymore.
The country's craft beer scene is booming, having welcomed more than a dozen micro-breweries in the past two years.
"The beer culture in Vietnam starts with Bia Hoi," Hao Tran, managing editor of lifestyle website Vietcetera, tells CNN. The craft beer scene that has evolved has done so from people drinking beer in the Old Quarter in Hanoi or Bui Vien Street in Saigon, he says.
"But there's so much more to beer culture in Vietnam now than just that particular image."
Tapping new tastes
Vietnam is one of the biggest beer consumers in Asia drinking 3.8 billion litres a year in 2016, according to Ministry of Industry and Trade.
While stalwart brands such as Tiger, Saigon Beer, and Bia Hoi still account for the lion's share of that consumption, in Ho Chi Minh City alone artisan brewers such as Platinum , Pasteur Street Brewing Co, Winking Seal, Heart of Darkness Heart of Darkness and Fuzzy Logic are providing a real alternative, says Tran.
The brands have, for example, introduced potent Indian pale ales (IPAs) and sour gose -- a tart and salty style of German beer -- to the market.
"As Vietnam has continued to experience income growth and taste for global concepts and standards, that's where craft beer has really come in," says Tran.
"The tastes and preferences of Vietnamese consumers are changing and evolving."
What's brewing
One of Vietnam's craft pioneers, Pasteur Street Brewing Co opened its doors in 2015 and now distributes not only all over Vietnam, but also to Malaysia, Australia, Hong Kong, and the United States -- with Japan and Europe to come later this year.
For the past two years, Pasteur Street has been leading the revolt against boring lagers and predictable pale ales -- an effort that was rewarded with three gold medals at the 2016 Asian Beer Medal competition.
Helmed by Americans John Reid and Alex Violette -- the latter is also behind Upslope Brewing Company, in Colorado -- the brewery imports its hops from the US and malts from Europe, but adds a local touch to every recipe.
The brewery's lightly hopped beers, such as the East West Pale Ale, provide stepping stones to stronger flavors for new craft converts.
In addition to a bar, restaurant and rooftop terrace, the two-story East West Brewing Company building also houses a brewery, where visitors can learn about the craft brewing process.
"It's all about really educating our (Vietnamese) consumers," Loc Truong, founder of East West Brewing Company, tells CNN. "You cannot show them what craft beer is if you don't have a craft brewery to really guide them through."
The usual nightlife scene in Vietnam revolves around drinking Bia Hoi -- most commonly consumed street-side on tiny plastic stools. At 30 cents a pint, it's a light and easy choice with just 3% alcohol content.
While stalwart brands such as Tiger, Saigon Beer, and Bia Hoi still account for the lion's share of Vietnam's beer consumption, in Ho Chi Minh City alone artisan brewers such as Platinum, Pasteur Street Brewing Co, Winking Seal, Heart of Darkness and Fuzzy Logic are providing a real alternative.
One of Vietnam's craft pioneers, Pasteur Street Brewing Co opened its doors in 2015 and now distributes not only all over Vietnam, but also to Malaysia, Australia, Hong Kong, and the United States -- with Japan and Europe to come later this year.
Pasteur Street has created 70 varieties, including Jasmine IPA, Passion Fruit Wheat, Lemongrass and Phu Quoc Pepper Saison and Cyclo Imperial Chocolate Stout, which won gold at last year's World Beer Cup.
The brewers reach for everything from locally made Marou chocolate (cacao plants pictured) to Dalat coffee, passion fruit, cacao and even divisive durian -- a spiky Asian fruit with a distinct smell.
The brewery's lightly hopped beers, such as the East West Pale Ale, provide stepping stones to stronger flavors for new craft converts.
In addition to a bar, restaurant and rooftop terrace, the two-story East West Brewing Company building also houses a brewery, where visitors can learn about the craft brewing process.
"It's all about really educating our (Vietnamese) consumers," Loc Truong, founder of East West Brewing Company, tells CNN. "You cannot show them what craft beer is if you don't have a craft brewery to really guide them through."
The usual nightlife scene in Vietnam revolves around drinking Bia Hoi -- most commonly consumed street-side on tiny plastic stools. At 30 cents a pint, it's a light and easy choice with just 3% alcohol content.
While stalwart brands such as Tiger, Saigon Beer, and Bia Hoi still account for the lion's share of Vietnam's beer consumption, in Ho Chi Minh City alone artisan brewers such as Platinum, Pasteur Street Brewing Co, Winking Seal, Heart of Darkness, and Fuzzy Logic are providing a real alternative.
One of Vietnam's craft pioneers, Pasteur Street Brewing Co opened its doors in 2015 and now distributes not only all over Vietnam, but also to Malaysia, Australia, Hong Kong, and the United States -- with Japan and Europe to come later this year.
Pasteur Street has created 70 varieties, including Jasmine IPA, Passion Fruit Wheat, Lemongrass and Phu Quoc Pepper Saison and Cyclo Imperial Chocolate Stout, which won gold at last year's World Beer Cup.
The brewers reach for everything from locally made Marou chocolate to Dalat coffee, passion fruit, cacao and even divisive durian -- a spiky Asian fruit with a distinct smell.
"It's not just a marketing ploy ... using local ingredients is what the industry is all about," says Reid. "It's about innovation and changing things up."
The brewers reach for everything from locally made Marou chocolate to Dalat coffee, passion fruit and even divisive durian -- a spiky Asian fruit with a distinct smell.
They've created 70 varieties, including Jasmine IPA, Passion Fruit Wheat, Lemongrass and Phu Quoc Pepper Saison and Cyclo Imperial Chocolate Stout, which won gold at last year's World Beer Cup.
"With the internet and access to information about what's going on on a world stage, they want to be part of that. You see craft beer happening in America, maybe some Vietnamese go visit family in California ... and they say: 'How come we don't have this in our country?'"
A welcome change
While many of the first microbreweries were set up by foreigners, Vietnamese entrepreneurs have also joined the mix.
Newly opened East West Brewing Company, for example, is run by Loc Truong, a Vietnamese-American who worked at Anheuser-Busch InBev -- the company behind brands such as Stella Artois and Corona -- before striking out with his founding partners.
"My being Vietnamese helps the craft beer industry, for sure, because that's one step to connect with the market," says Truong, who was born in Vietnam but studied in the US. "Why do people buy craft beer? It's higher quality, but who's behind it also adds value."
Truong's lightly hopped beers, such as the East West Pale Ale, he says, provide a stepping stone to stronger flavors for new craft converts.
From there, it gets more challenging, with a bolder Far East IPA, Coffee Vanilla Porter, or 12% ABV Independence Stout.
That's alongside Asia-inspired varieties, such as Le Wit, a wit-style beer made with Asian pear, and a dainty Saigon Rose that's infused with raspberries.
"A lot of people don't know that there are so many different types of flavors in beer," says Truong.
"We'll see customers coming back five or six times a week, saying they can't drink the traditional lagers or (Bia Hoi beer) anymore. Once they tried craft, they never went back."
Building a bridge
In the land of 30-cent drafts of Bia Hoi, charging consumers $5 for craft draft remains a challenge.
An on-site brewery was a crucial part of the persuasion strategy for East West Brewing Company, which opened in January.
"It's all about really educating our (Vietnamese) consumers," Loc Truong, founder of East West Brewing Company.
"You cannot show them what craft beer is if you don't have a craft brewery to really guide them through."
It helps that breweries and bars serving craft beers tend to be clustered in Ho Chi Minh City around central areas of Districts 1 and 2, where there's lots of foot traffic.
As a result, new beer-oriented tours have added to the buzz, such as the bar and brewery motorbike excursion operated by Vespa Adventures.
Inside the massive glass building, guests can mingle at the industrial-chic bar and restaurant downstairs, soak up the sun on the rooftop, or take a tour of the steel fermenting tanks and barrel-aging room.
Before opening, Truong expected expats and travelers to drive sales, but he was pleasantly surprised that 85% of his patrons were Vietnamese in the first six months of business.
Truong says that is partly due to a growing middle class in Vietnam.
With a 6% annual increase in GDP per capita, the Boston Consulting Group predicts Vietnam's middle class will account for 23% of the population of 95 million by 2020, up from 16% in 2015.
"Vietnam moves very, very fast," says Truong. "One thing catches on and the next thing you know, the whole market is shifting."
Source: CNN. Date: 2017-07-25
EU, Canada, and US battle for China’s pork market, claims Rabobank
Global pork trade is facing new dynamics, driven by price developments, new trade deals, and more challenging business environments, according to RaboResearch’s latest Global Pork Quarterly. “While China’s pork imports have begun to slow down, other traditional importing countries have reported significant growth,” says Chenjun Pan, RaboResearch Senior Analyst – Animal Protein.
“Looking to the second half of 2017, global pork supply is expected to increase further, and competition for global consumers will intensify.” This potential softening bias on prices contrasts with the stability of the Rabobank Five-Nation Hog Price Index thus far in 2017. In the first five months of 2017, China’s pork imports were flat, which contrasts with the significant growth seen in 1H 2016. The recovery of local production and strong international prices is believed to be responsible for slower imports. In China, pork prices have declined by 30%, from the record levels of last year. As a result, Chinese traders are taking a more cautious approach to imports in 2017.
Rabobank holds the view that China’s pork production will increase by about 2% in 2017. Hog production recovery was faster than expected in 1H, as many producers shared a positive view of the market and made rapid herd replenishments. While the expansion of hog production should continue in 2H 2017, it has been slowed by the price plunge in Q2.
“The emergence of these new trade dynamics will be the most important market development in the second half of this year,” according to Justin Sherrard, RaboResearch Global Strategist – Animal Protein.
Other highlights from the Pork Quarterly Q3 2017 include:
EU: slower exports due to strong prices: Tight supply and firm demand have maintained upward pressure on prices and starting to challenge exporters. In this context, the recently announced trade pact with Japan, offering tariff reductions, is good news for European exporters.
US: uncertain outlook on political front and new plant capacity: US pork exports still face uncertainty due to potential trade policy changes and a strong currency, but have been better than expected thus far in 2017. With weaker demand from China offset by stronger demand from Mexico, total exports are expected to increase by about 10%, compared with 2016. Increasing US exports are becoming even more important as production continues to expand.
Brazil: political turmoil continues to impact: Brazil faces great challenges due to political turmoil, and exports in recent months have declined significantly. However, even with these challenges, Brazil’s pork market is still expected to deliver a positive result, due to lower supply, favorable feed prices, and a favorable exchange rate.
Source: Food Ingredients 1st. Date: 2017-07-25
US-style farm set to put down deep roots near Beijing
A landmark demonstration farm modeled faithfully on a Midwestern farmstead situated in the US state of Iowa, is set to start construction in September near Beijing with the aim of helping advance the technology of modern mechanized agriculture in China.
The farm－called the Sino-US Friendship Model Farm－will cost an estimated $1 billion and will cover 3,300 acres (1,336 hectares) outside the town of Hushiha in northern Hebei province, according to a senior official.
The town in Luanping county, which is administered by the city of Chengde, is about 150 kilometers to the northeast of Beijing. A section of China's Great Wall, Jinshanling, passes through it.
Last year, an agreement on building the model farm near Chengde was signed in Hebei, when Iowa's former Governor Terry Branstad visited the province.
The farm will introduce crop varieties, and use farming equipment and techniques as well as management experience from Iowa, according to Ye Changqing, executive deputy head of the Hebei People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries.
It will also invite US farmers to run it, Ye said.
In addition, the farm will act as an educational base for agricultural development and become a draw for eco-agricultural tourism.
A delegation led by Chengde officials visited Iowa in April, to learn more about the farmstead and to make preparations for the creation of a similar one in China.
At the moment, the land requisition for the farm is underway.
By the end of the month, basic preparation work should be finished, including overall planning and design of the farm, said Wang Xiaodong, deputy governor of Hebei province.
He was speaking earlier in the month at Luanping, where he hosted a meeting to discuss the process.
A company, Rongsheng Group, is in charge of the planning and design work.
No specific schedule about the farm, however, has so far been disclosed.
The Midwestern state of Iowa, with which Hebei has been a sister province since 1983, is a major producer of corn and soybean in the US.
Source: China Ministry of Agriculture. Date: 2017-07-25
Bac Lieu reviews FAO-funded project on shrimp farming
A FAO-funded project has identified the causes of shrimp breeding failure in Soc Trang and Bac Lieu province, it was reported at a seminar held by the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of southern Bac Lieu province on July 21.
The project, began in 2016, was a joint effort of the Soc Trang and Bac Lieu departments of agriculture and rural development, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the Research Institute for Aquaculture No.2.
Participating scientists and specialised engineers attributed shrimp breeding failure to dramatic changes in the local environment as a consequence of climate change, poor investment in pond’s conditions and equipment, and farmers’ lack of knowledge and expertise.
Based on the finding, the project has helped 20 farming households pilot a sustainable shrimp breeding model through providing them with shrimp fry and training in farming techniques. As a result, they have earned higher incomes and gradually mastered technological application.
Speaking at the event, FAO chief representative in Vietnam Jong Ha-bae said FAO will work with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development’s agenciesto work out advanced shrimp farming models adaptive to climate change in order to ensure farmers’ livelihoods and protect the environment, contributing to the sustainable development of the shrimp sector.
Source: VNA. Date: 2017-07-24
Vietnam wastes at least 1 billion USD yearly on over fertilisation
Vietnam wastes at least 23 trillion VND (1 billion USD) annually on fertilisation, experts said and called for replacement of conventional fertiliser with more hi-tech products.
Le Nhu Kieu, vice head of Soil and Fertilisers Research Institute under Vietnam Academy of Agricultural Science, said that about half of the amount of nitrogen fertiliser fed to plants gets released to environment, 70-80 percent of phosphorus fertiliser amount was kept in soil and 50-60 percent of urea fertiliser amount was either evaporated or eroded.
On average, in Vietnam, plants and crops received only 35-40 percent of the fertiliser given to them, he said.
About 11 million tonnes of inorganic fertilisers are used in the country on a yearly basis, he said.
The leaked fertiliser pollutes water, impoverishes soil and makes it hard to restore the soil’s quality.
“Overuse of chemical fertilisers also threatens human and other living being’s genes, as it could cause genetic mutations, which will bring diseases for crops,” Kieu said.
Kieu told khoahocphattrien.vn that it is time to promote “hi-tech fertilisers” to increase productivity and be safer to the environment.
Compared with conventional fertilisers, the hi-tech fertilisers can help increase productivity up to 20 percent.
Using conventional nitrogen fertiliser on rice, farmers usually lose about half of the fertiliser amount. The loss can drop 20 percent when hi-tech fertilisers are used.
Mai Van Quyen, former vice head of the Institute of Agricultural Science for southern Vietnam, said that major fertiliser producers are using new technologies.
For examples, scientists are applying urea liquefying technology makes high-nutrient NPK (Nitrogen – Phosphorus – Postassium) and working to produce other substances that can be easily absorbed and released more slowly to the environment.
The slow-release fertilisers - or controlled-release fertilisers - are polymer-coated.
The thickness of polymer coats allows different absorption speeds.
Quyen said that some polymer-coated fertilisers can be used for five months to nine months, which helps reduce the frequency of fertilizing.
Proper fertilisation also helps avoid diseases and eutrophication – an excessive richness of nutrients in soil.
Despite of advantages, hi-tech fertilisers have not been used widely in Vietnam’s farms.
Trinh Thi Diep – a fertiliser seller in Thieu Duy commune, Thieu Hoa district in the central province of Thanh Hoa said that her customers preferred conventional fertilisers because of lower prices and quick visible affects.
“They use nitrogen fertiliser today and see its effect in tomorrow, as the leaves growth much greener,” Diep said.
Experts say that farmers lack proper understanding about new fertilisers.
Business and relevant agencies need to boost communication to show farmers the effectiveness of hi-tech fertilisers.
Source: VNA. Date: 2017-07-24
Mengniu grows in B&R markets
China Mengniu Dairy Co Ltd, one of the country's biggest dairy producers by revenue, plans to launch more products to suit local preferences in Canada and Indonesia this year, its top executive said.
Such business expansion opportunities are arising from China's growing trade with countries and regions participating in the Belt and Road Initiative over the past four years, especially in fast-growing markets such as India and Southeast Asia.
The Belt and Road Initiative, comprising the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, aims to build a trade and infrastructure network connecting Asia with Europe and Africa along ancient trade routes.
Mengniu, which is based in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region, will continue to invest in traditional dairy production bases such as New Zealand and Australia, as well as in the United States and European countries to produce quality dairy resources.
Jeffrey Lu, chief executive officer of Mengniu, said the company has also started to adjust its strategies in China. It is building three digitally enabled plants for long-term growth and to serve as manufacturing bases for exports to countries in Asia.
In line with China's industrial and consumption upgrading boom on the back of the Made in China 2025 initiative, Mengniu invested in a digitally enabled plant in Jinhua of East China's Zhejiang province. The aim is to ship more dairy products to Southeast Asian markets through the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road.
Last year, Mengniu signed a cooperation agreement with the Tibet autonomous region for joint efforts to build a modern pasture and a dairy factory. The partnership is expected to boost Mengniu's revenue.
The company plans to take advantage of Tibet's unique environment and resources to create pure and healthy dairy products to serve local consumers and also cover South Asian markets such as Nepal and India.
Some 1,500 cows have been raised in the pasture to date. The plan is to set up a production facility with annual capacity of 50,000 metric tons after the first-phase factory is completed in its neighborhood.
"Encouraging dairy consumption is a reflection of economic success in many markets related to the Belt and Road Initiative. The types of foods people eat now include health food and convenient food," said Lu.
"I think it's a combination of quality and innovation that is linked to growth and demand. Those two factors came together to create a big market," said Lu. "The biggest opportunity for us is the closer connection with consumers in the Belt and Road markets as well as in the home market."
To date, Mengniu's products have entered markets including Hong Kong, Macao, Mongolia, Singapore and Myanmar. Its portfolio ranges from regular-temperature products to low-temperature and frozen products.
It has also formed partnerships with suppliers in Canada and Indonesia this year.
Cows with an automatic milking equipment in Hengshui, Hebei province. [Photo provided to China Daily]
According to Mengniu's 2016 financial report, revenue grew 9.7 percent year-on-year to 53.8 billion yuan ($7.9 billion.
"Going overseas always brings challenges, particularly from a cultural perspective. Running a business in less familiar economies requires us to know the local culture, work with the locals, gain a thorough understanding of the legal environment, regulations and laws," said Lu.
"We developed new products to meet the preferences of local consumers in Hong Kong, Macao and Indonesia. In New Zealand, 80 percent of our staff are locals," he said. "After we acquired a large company in Australia in 2016, we retained 95 percent of their local employees."
Mengniu is also the largest shareholder of Anhui-based Modern Farming, showing the domestic dairy giant's shift to pasteurized milk and other low-temperature dairy products to get ahead of its international rivals.
Modern Farming is the country's leading farm company, with the largest number of cattle. It is also a leading provider of raw milk. The company operates 27 farms with over 220,000 cows. This move will allow Modern Farming to produce pasteurized milk, yogurt and pure milk.
To ensure product safety, Mengniu has been working with Germany's Siemens AG to build an internet-based system that is able to generate over 400,000 pieces of qualitative data a day.
Li Gang, vice-president of the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation in Beijing, said: "Learning from experience in overseas markets and gaining advanced industrial technology will help Chinese dairy producers secure market share and further compete with foreign companies. So, they should keep diversifying their distribution channels and product portfolios in global markets."
Source: China Daily. Date: 2017-07-24