Miller Magazine Issue: 119 November 2019

30 NEWS MILLER / NOVEMBER 2019 China to stabilise grain output at over 600 bln kg by 2020 Brazil soy crusher Imcopa may sell plants at auction on December 4, judge rules China intends to stabilise its annual grain output at over 600 billion kg by 2020 to ensure basic self-suffi- ciency in grains and absolute ration security, according to a report from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The country will also make sustained efforts to secure the to- tal area of permanent basic farmland above or at 1.546 billion mu (about 103 million hectares) and the sown area of grains at over 1.65 billion mu, said the report, titled China’s Progress Report on Implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (2019). China has made positive progress towards the re- levant sustainable development goal in the agricultu- ral field, with stable grain output, steadily improving quality and safety of farm produce, accelerated green development and better protection and utilisation of agricultural species, the report noted. Since 2015, the country’s annual grain output has remained stable at more than 650 billion kg for four consecutive years, with the per capita share of grain exceeding 450 kg, according to the report. It acknowledged multiple chal- lenges on China’s way to sustainable agricultural de- velopment, noting a large population with per capita natural resources for agriculture below world averages. The country’s main tasks are to ensure effective supply of food, promote balanced nutrition development, and plan as a whole and coordinate production and con- sumption, the report said. It outlined several priorities in future policies, inclu- ding pursuing the strategy of reserving grain produc- tion capacity by land rotation and through new tech- nologies, pushing forward the rural collective property rights system reform, and further promoting the green development of agriculture and strengthening interna- tional cooperation in agricultural development. A bankruptcy court in Paraná state has scheduled an au- ction to sell two plants belonging to Brazilian soy proces- sor Imcopa International SA on Dec. 4, the company said. Imcopa, one of the largest non-genetically modified soy crushers in Brazil, said the sale of the plants in the towns of Araucária and Cambé was foreseen in its reorganization plan approved by creditors in 2017. In August, Imcopa unilaterally terminated a leasing cont- ract with brewer Grupo Petrópolis for the two crushing plants as it was preparing to sell the assets, alleging a bre- ach of contract. “With the auction of the industrial plants, the agreement maintained between Cervejaria Petrópolis and Imcopa will be terminated, as provided for in the reor- ganization plan,” Imcopa’s statement said. Grupo Petrópolis said it has obtained a court decision sus- pending the termination of the leasing contract. The company said that an eventual buyer of the plants will have to respect the current leasing contract, which runs through 2024.