中國國家糧食儲備機構(gòu)將拍賣220萬噸臨儲糧

China’s state grains reserves body will auction about2m tonnes of old corn stocks and 200,000 tonnes ofrice on Friday to clear space before the harvestseason starts, helping to chip away space in itsgrossly overstocked grains warehouses.

中國國家糧食儲備機構(gòu)將在周五拍賣約200萬噸陳玉米庫存及20萬噸大米，以便在收獲季節(jié)開始前清理倉儲空間，幫助從其存貨過多的糧倉中騰出空間。

China’s state reserves of corn, wheat, rice and otheragricultural commodities have climbed to high levelsthanks to a policy that set state purchasing prices well above market prices in China oroverseas. The huge size of the reserves, estimated at 250m tonnes for corn alone, nowthreatens to swamp markets if sold or run the risk of spoiling from prolonged storage.

由于一項令政府收購價格大大高于中國或海外市場價的政策，中國的玉米、小麥、大米及其他農(nóng)業(yè)大宗商品的國家儲備已攀升至極高水平。據(jù)估計，僅玉米庫存就高達2.5億噸。如今，巨大的糧食儲備規(guī)模，一旦銷售很可能會淹沒整個市場，或者面臨因長期存儲而損壞的風(fēng)險。

The state grains trading centre said it would sell corn grown in northern China in 2012, plusimported corn from 2011 and 2012, to designated buyers, understood to be feed companiesand other industrial processors. The choice of buyers indicates that the grain quality hasdeteriorated so that it is unsuitable for human food.

國家糧食交易中心表示，該中心將向指定買家銷售2012年在中國北方種植的玉米以及2011年到2012年期間進口的玉米。按照人們的理解，這些指定買家是一些飼料企業(yè)和其他工業(yè)加工企業(yè)。對買家的選擇，表明這批玉米的品質(zhì)已經(jīng)惡化，不適合作為食品出售。

“We have too much old grains. They have to be sold off for cheap,” said Ma Wenfeng of BeijingOrient Agribusiness Consultant, a critic of China’s grains stockpiling policy.

中國糧食庫存政策的批評者、北京東方艾格農(nóng)業(yè)咨詢有限公司(Beijing Orient Agribusiness Consultants)馬文峰表示：“我們的陳糧太多了，必須廉價拋售。”

China’s state reserves normally keep grains for up to three years then rotate the old grains outto make room for the new harvest. The system is designed to keep grains to stabilise prices orfor use in case of a natural disaster.

通常，中國的國家糧食儲備會把糧食存儲最多三年，再把陳糧輪換出去，以便為新收獲糧食騰出空間。整個系統(tǒng)的設(shè)計目的是通過糧食存儲確保價格穩(wěn)定，或在發(fā)生自然災(zāi)害時使用。

However, the poor quality of the stored grains and the high prices sought by the reserves bodyto avoid too great a loss on stocks purchased at above-market prices meant that much of thegrain put up for auction went unsold in recent years. Regular weekly grains auctions will kick offafter the stock-clearing sale on Friday.

不過，倉儲糧品質(zhì)低劣，而對于以高于市場價收購的庫存，儲藏機構(gòu)為避免虧損過大而開出了很高的價格。這些因素導(dǎo)致最近幾年這些被拍賣的糧食許多都沒有賣出去。在周五的清理庫存銷售之后，中國將啟動每周的定期糧食拍賣。

China’s mounting grain inventories are expected to further boost total global stocks to a newrecord of 474m tonnes for the crop year 2016-17, according to latest figures from theInternational Grains Council. At almost 200m tonnes, inventories in China may be the largestsince 1999-2000, nominally accounting for more than 40 per cent of the world total, said theIGC.

根據(jù)國際谷物理事會(International Grains Council，IGC)發(fā)布的最新數(shù)據(jù)，中國不斷增高的糧食庫存預(yù)計會進一步推升全球總庫存，在2016-2017農(nóng)事年將其推升至4.74億噸的新紀(jì)錄。IGC表示，中國近2億噸庫存也許是1999至2000農(nóng)事年以來的最高水平，這一數(shù)字從表面上說占了全球總庫存的40%以上。

China said this year it would scrap the minimum purchase price policy. The expectation oflower prices has already impacted plantings this year. Acreage planted with corn in the north-east breadbasket fell this year for the first time in 13 years, the vice minister of agriculture saidthis month.

今年，中國曾表示會取消最低收購價政策。對價格降低的預(yù)期已經(jīng)對今年的糧食種植產(chǎn)生了影響。這個月，中國農(nóng)業(yè)部副部長曾表示，今年東北產(chǎn)糧區(qū)的玉米種植面積出現(xiàn)13年來首次減少。

After Beijing’s announcement, corn prices in China have fallen sharply. The price of thecommodity traded in Dalian is now at Rmb1,691 ($258) a tonne, down almost a fifth since thestart of the year.

在中國政府公布上述消息之后，中國玉米價格已急劇下跌。目前，大連交易的玉米大宗商品交易價格為每噸1691元人民幣(合258美元)，自今年初以來下跌了近五分之一。

The US Department of Agriculture officials last month warned that the Chinese governmentcould face paper losses of more than $10bn on its state-owned corn reserves as it shakes up itsagricultural support policy.

上個月，美國農(nóng)業(yè)部官員曾警告稱，在整頓其農(nóng)業(yè)支持政策之際，中國政府在國有玉米儲備上可能會面臨逾100億美元的賬面虧損。

Administrative efforts to trim the reserves, for instance by issuing import quotas only tocompanies that agree to buy at the auctions, have backfired. Feed mills and food processorsprefer to buy or import fresh, cheaper grain and simply resell the unwanted old stocks back tothe warehouses, where it is entered in ledgers as new stocks.

中國降庫存的行政努力，比如只向同意在拍賣會上買入的企業(yè)發(fā)放進口配額，已產(chǎn)生了不良后果。飼料廠和食品加工企業(yè)寧可買入或進口更廉價的新鮮糧食，而把不想要的陳糧庫存轉(zhuǎn)手賣回存儲倉庫，而這些陳糧庫存在這類倉庫會以新庫存入賬。

The distortions of the grains reserve policy is amplified by lack of information about whatexactly the warehouses hold. Chinese media occasionally expose corruption in the grainsreserves system, including tales of cotton warehouses stuffed with mattresses and granariesthat mysteriously burn down shortly before inspectors are due to arrive.

而這些倉庫具體存儲內(nèi)容信息的缺乏，則放大了糧食儲備政策的扭曲狀況。中國媒體曾偶然曝光糧食儲備系統(tǒng)中的腐敗現(xiàn)象，其中的傳聞包括棉花倉庫充斥舊床墊、以及檢查人員到來前不久糧倉神秘起火等。