Government-led purchases of domestic wheat harvests in China this year are more than 80% finished and the buying progress has mostly been “smooth”, state-owned newspaper People’s Daily reported on Friday.
Farmers in China’s main wheat producing regions have sold more than 50 million tons of their crops, up 800,000 tons year on year.
Swift buying from companies further lifted wheat prices to an average of 3,060 yuan/ton ($444/ton), up 600 yuan/ton ($87/ton) compared to the same point last year.
The average price this year is also significantly above the floor price of 2,300 yuan/ton ($334/ton) set by the government. Therefore, it did not trigger any government intervention to subsidize farmers’ income.
Meanwhile, despite unfavorable weather conditions during wheat crop development stage in the first half of this year and the lack of fertilizer usage due to rising costs, the current crop quality is reported to be among the best crops in the past decade, according to the National Food and Strategic Reserves Administration.
China is estimated to produce between 137-140 million tons of wheat this year.