I am farming in the real world

Chapter 215: Plotting for Soybean Pricing Power, Desert Soybeans Shockingly Debut!

“Take back the pricing power of soybeans?”

As soon as these words came out, the several grain and oil tycoons present fell silent.

As the world's number one soybean import and consumption market, China imports over 100 million tons of spot soybeans from all over the world every year, and its own soybean production also reaches more than 20 million tons annually.

The funds consumed on imported soybeans amount to more than 400 billion yuan every year.

However, even as the world's largest soybean buyer's market, domestic grain and oil giants cannot intervene in the pricing power of soybeans.

Even Brazil, the world's largest soybean producer, cannot control the pricing power of soybeans due to land privatization issues, with large private farms being occupied by American capital.

The largest buyers and sellers of soybean trade have no pricing power, just like the pricing power of oil is entirely determined by the American financial market. In the eyes of MC profiteers, this is simply a joke!

The reason for this embarrassing situation is that the soybean pricing power struggle behind it is essentially a contest and game between the economic and financial interests of China and the United States.

“Soybean futures are highly intertwined with the American Wall Street financial market. Every day, more than tens of billions of dollars flow through it for speculation. It is not easy to take back the pricing power!”

“This is snatching food from the Americans' bowl. Does President Shang not know this?” Gu Xianmin sighed, shaking his head.

Despite the rapid development of COFCO and China Grain Reserves Corporation in recent years, and even several battles with the four major grain merchants in the international market, with mutual wins and losses.

However, the soybean pricing power has always been a thorn in the hearts of domestic grain and oil giants.

It can't be pulled out, and moving it causes pain.

They can only play the 'alliance and vertical integration' strategy, constantly suppressing the proportion of American soybeans in their purchases, and spreading the procurement to major soybean producing areas in South America and Ukraine.

In addition to continuously increasing domestic soybean production capacity, this has pushed the previously high price of American soybeans from 1300 cents/bushel a few years ago to the current 1100 cents/bushel.

The chain reaction triggered by the decline in soybean prices has spread from the grain market to the feed and breeding industries.

Why has beef prices plummeted in the past two years?

The price of domestic beef has been cut in half from more than 40 yuan per kilogram in the past to more than 20 yuan this year.

Ordinary people think that it is because the rise of Milei in Argentina has made the price of imported Argentine beef dirt cheap.

In fact, the real underlying reason is that soybean prices have fallen by more than 20%, which has led to a large-scale reduction in feed prices, and the decline in breeding costs has led to a sharp drop in beef prices.

This is a chain of people's livelihood economy, and it is not easy to take back the pricing power from the Americans.

After all, speculators all over the world recognize the American financial market and the financial hegemony of the US dollar.

The domestic futures, stock markets, and foreign exchange all have strict restrictions on foreign capital. It is far less convenient to manipulate the liquidity of the soybean futures market than Wall Street, where you can play as long as you have money.

Seeing everyone's worried expressions, Old Shang revealed a mysterious smile on his face and said, “Snatching food from the Americans' bowl is actually very simple. As long as we, Hongxing Trading, make up for the gap in American soybeans, wouldn't that solve the problem?”

As soon as these words came out, Deng Xiong, who was holding a cup and sipping wine, choked several times from the high-proof Moutai: “Cough cough… President Shang! We import more than 30 million tons from the United States every year, and this year it is estimated to reach a new high of nearly 40 million tons! Can Hongxing Trading really make up for such a large gap?”

Deng Xiong's tone unconsciously raised a few notches as he spoke!

You should know that as the top players in Rizhao Port, the big shots present have all heard about the 'cash for spot' delivery method previously used by Hongxing Trading.

They even sent market teams under their command to sneak into Hongxing Trading's sales group to observe secretly for a period of time.

Relying on its own fleet of ten-thousand-ton bulk cargo ships, Hongxing Trading continuously transported soybeans from the Russian Far East and sold them to small and medium-sized grain and oil companies at a price that was about 5% lower than the market price.

Initially, the scale of soybeans imported from Hongxing Trading was not large, one ten-thousand-ton ship every three days, which was considered a small matter in the eyes of giants like COFCO.

However, after developing for a few months, the number of ten-thousand-ton bulk cargo ships arriving at the port every day began to surge to 3 or 4, and even recently, the largest 200,000-ton giant ships in the shipping market have begun to be hired.

In just 3 months, it achieved a landing scale of 5 million tons, directly sweeping up the small and medium-sized grain and oil companies in Rizhao.

At this rate of growth, Hongxing Trading's soybean import volume may reach more than 20 million tons a year, accounting for 20% of the country's annual soybean import volume!

At this level of import volume, even domestic giants such as COFCO and China Grain Reserves Corporation dare not underestimate it.

What's more, they have quietly acquired the controlling stake in Rizhao Port, and their right to speak at this dinner table is naturally much greater than before.

If it weren't for this, Gu Xianmin and Deng Xiong would not have put aside their busy work and specially taken the time to attend this dinner.

It was entirely because of the incredible import volume of Hongxing Trading that they were selling face to this mysterious President Shang.

“Only 30 million tons. Next year, Hongxing Trading is expected to provide no less than 50 million tons of shares to the domestic soybean market. After that, the annual supply volume will be maintained at a growth rate of about 10% per year based on 50 million tons.”

Old Shang, with his big nose, reported a huge number, which made the big shots stunned for a while.

“What a joke! Annual import of 50 million tons?”

“Where did so many soybeans come from!”

“President Shang means to bypass the annual import total of 100 million tons and bring in another 50 million tons of pure incremental volume? But the production capacity of major soybean producing areas such as the Americas and Eastern Europe is basically fixed.”

“Even if South America further explodes its production capacity, it is impossible to conjure up so many soybeans at once!”

The dinner table completely exploded.

Everyone cast their doubtful gazes at Old Shang.

As the heads of domestic grain and oil giants, they naturally know the production capacity data of various places like the back of their hands.

Including the 5 million tons of soybeans recently imported by Hongxing Trading, although the specific source has not been tracked down yet.

However, after private discussions, everyone speculated that it should be from the Eastern European region, transported to the Far East in some incredible way and secretly sold to China.

After all, although Russia and Ukraine are fighting like dogs, their private commercial activities have not stopped.

Whether it is oil and gas or grain, these resources related to people's livelihood are all in normal trade.

Old Shang chuckled and pretended to be profound: “Who said that the increment of 50 million tons needs to be purely imported?”

“Not imported? Could it be that you are growing it yourself domestically?”

“President Shang, could it be that you drank too much and became dizzy?”

“In our country, except for the three major plains of Northeast, North China, and Northwest, which can still be planted on a large scale, the production capacity is only 20 million tons. Where are you going to grow such a large scale of soybeans yourself?”

“Even if you have the will, there is no arable land for you to grow!”

Gu Xianmin and Deng Xiong and others started arguing with red faces and thick necks.

Several big shots with smaller positions even started toasting Old Shang after the argument, telling him to give up this unrealistic idea as soon as possible.

After all, domestic arable land is extremely limited, and the plains suitable for large-scale mechanical operation of soybeans are even scarcer.

It is already very extreme to use it to grow rice and keep the rice bowl in your own hands. Where can you spare such a large area of suitable arable land to grow soybeans?

Seeing that a group of big shots had been teased enough by him and felt that the timing of the negotiation was ripe, Old Shang clapped his hands and asked a white curtain to be lowered from the screen on one side of the box.

As the projection above the curtain started, a harvesting scene filmed at an outdoor planting base appeared in everyone's eyes.

In the picture, rows of lush soybean plants are gently swaying in the wind.

The scorching sun overhead shines on those finished plants, emitting a dazzling golden brilliance.

When the camera began to take off with the drone and zoom out, the big shots in the box, who were originally slightly drunk, all became energetic, sobered up at the same time, and stared blankly at the full screen of golden luster as if they had seen a ghost.

Because they found that these golden colors were not only the color of the plump soybeans themselves when the farmers in the lens peeled open the pods to reveal them.

Similarly, there was also the boundless yellow desert presented in the wide-angle lens under the feet of the farmers!

When this 30-second promotional short video was finished playing, Old Shang took out a bag of plastic-sealed soybean samples from his pocket and said: “Please allow me to introduce to you, presidents!”

“This bag is the sample of the first generation of drought-resistant, salt-alkali tolerant desert soybeans 'Super Sand No. 1', which is displayed in the video, invested by our Hongxing Trading and newly cultivated by Cubic Agriculture Technology Company, suitable for planting in extremely harsh environments.”