Report: China’s Agriculture Sector To See Rising Costs In 2011

According to China’s Rural Economy, a report recently released by a think tank, found that the country’s agriculture industry is expected to face increasing pressures from rising costs in 2011. Fertilizer prices in China, which increased during the fourth quarter last year, were likely to keep rising during 2011, while stock feed prices are also likely to rise, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) said in the report.

The CASS report also predicted grain prices, especially corn, to continue to trend upwards in 2011. Further, the report urged greater efforts to stabilize agricultural production costs, by increasing supply and tightening market regulations.

China’s annual grain output is estimated to reach 550 million tons in 2011. The country’s grain output rose 2.9% year on year to 546.41 million tons in 2010, marking it the seventh consecutive year of growth for China’s grain output.

On foreign trade of agricultural products, the report said imports and exports of China’s agricultural products are both expected to slow in the medium and long term. Statistics from the Ministry of Agriculture showed that China’s export volume of agricultural products registered an average of 13.2% annual growth from 2002 to 2010. ◆