Danke Senna7
OT China und Absicherung der Lebensmittelversorgung
In March of this year, Chinese investment has intensified further as large conglomerates have been targeting the Latin American agricultural sector. Chinese state-owned COFCO, a huge conglomerate responsible for essentially feeding millions of Chinese citizens, has taken over Noble, the largest private trading company (energy, metals and agricultural products) in Asia. One of the most important factors motivating this transaction is the fact that Noble has many investments in Brazil and Argentina, which has now given COFCO, control of Noble’s South American warehouses of sugar, cereals and oil seeds (as well as cotton, coffee and cocoa from Africa or Asia).
This is merely the beginning. Beijing has given up subsidizing Chinese agriculture by using fixed procurement mechanisms for such staples as rice, soy or cotton as in the past. Moreover, Chinese soil has been degrading rapidly and this will make China ever more addicted to other countries for food. The Chinese are already the largest importer of soybeans in the world and becoming the largest importers of corn to feed their livestock, and for the past three years they have been net importers of rice. China consumes 20% of global food supply, but has only 9% of the world’s acreage under cultivation.
China, therefore, needs to find alternative lands to secure food supplies. In this regard, Brazil, offers 500 million acres of arable land and it is the world’s third largest market for fertilizer for which demand is increasing. Currently, Brazil has to import about half of its phosphate needs and South American phosphate and potash producers will be in a position to benefit from China’s agricultural ‘invasion’. Fertilizer use in Brazil has risen by 70% over the past 15 years and the government is very keen on stimulating phosphates and potash mining, which could presumably include an increase of royalties for mining companies. Brazil produces many fertilizer intensive crops – soya, maize and sugar cane (some 80% of total agricultural output) – that are necessary for food production and for biofuel, which is an important alternative fuel in South America. These crops respond very well to phosphate based fertilizer. Brazilian soil needs external nutrients in the form of mineral fertilizers.
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