World Grain - June 2018 - 87

[ Flour Short Story No.1 ]

"China could easily import
another 10% to 15%, so
another 10 million to 15
million tonnes of soybeans."

FLOUR BEAUTIES

- J.Y. Chow, senior vice-president for food
and agri coverage, Mizuho Bank
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favors soy versus palm oil. There might be a phasing out
of palm oil.
"China could easily import another 10% to 15%, so another 10 million to 15 million tonnes of soybeans. It won't happen overnight, but I expect there will be movement on this."
Juhui Huang, vice-president of corporate affairs for
Greater China at BRF Asia, said China could also be proactive in other markets in the near term.
"China may do something on rice trading to alleviate
stock pressure this year," he said. "It may not restrict rice
imports to avoid hurting its BRI partners, but it may encourage exports of rice and corn in 2018 by playing a price
game. China will also continue to expand the import of
agri products, especially high-quality, high-value products
like soybeans, meal and aqua products for environmental
and cost reasons.
"China may also soon become a large corn importer -
corn stocks have been drained in the last two to three years."
OTHER EXPANDING MARKETS
Of course, China is not the only expanding grains market. India's middle class is currently small compared to
China's, but some 150 million additional households are
due to achieve real PPP incomes of more than $20,000 by
2026, almost tripling the 2016 total. Indonesia is forecast
to add another 28 million households to its middle class
with real annual PPP income of $20,000 over the same
period, while Pakistan and Bangladesh also have rapidly
expanding middle classes that are expected to consume
more grains in the future.
Sumit Gupta, a business manager at McDonald Pelz
India, said India's population was still growing and, with
rising incomes, prosperity and urbanization would come
more demand for proteins and better food. He also noted
that India's ground water levels in many parts of the country were causing long-term grain production challenges
and making harvests more erratic with pulse production
particularly volatile.
While at present India was a relatively low per capita consumer of meat, Gupta said it was a myth that all
Indians were vegetarian. While much would depend on

This is one of over 3500 ﬂour sacks, collected with passion and vision, and displayed in the FlourWorld Museum for
the millers of the world and the public. Flour sacks are more
than just packaging. Their artistic and symbolic illustrations
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motifs, the collection also features images of religious power. This beautiful sack from Guatemala shows the Virgin of
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stand for the quality of the wheat in the sack.
The FlourWorld Museum is full of wonders and surprises. The
world's largest collection of ﬂour sacks is the foundation of
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tell a cultural and historical story of ﬂour as a staple. And
suddenly you ﬁnd yourself in the fascinating world of grain.
Since time immemorial, the possession of grain has led to
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as well as envy, greed and wars. The FlourWorld Museum
tells this compelling story and brings the history of grain and
ﬂour to light.

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World Grain - June 2018

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of World Grain - June 2018