China, the world’s largest peanut importer, is buying more and more on the market to compensate for the decline in its production. Prices are therefore on the rise and have even soared for certain varieties.
It is now acquired, China will have to deal with a production down by at least 20%, according to several sources. In question, a reduction in cultivation areas of nearly 20% in 2022, farmers having been encouraged to grow more soybeans and corn.
Increase in Chinese purchases
Due to lack of sufficient availability in the country, prices rose 10% on the Zhenghou Commodity Exchange – or 1,582 dollars per ton –, according to the Financial Times. In the space of a month, between January and February, they rose by more than $100 a ton, according to IHS Markit. The red-skinned raw peanut variety, received in Rotterdam, even reached its all-time high, ie 2,750 dollars per tonne.
The fall in production in the Middle Kingdom is reflected in an increase in Chinese purchases in all the countries where peanuts are available, in Argentina, Brazil, the United States, but also in India. In Africa, it is in Senegal, but also in Sudan, that Chinese intermediaries are most active.
According to Financial Timesthe Middle Empire should import 1.1 million tonnes of raw peanuts this year, four times more than the European Union, the world’s second largest importer.
Production abused by the vagaries of the weather
This Chinese effervescence contributes to stretching a little more a world market which was already stretched due to climatic hazards in the main producing countries.
In West Africa, local demand is high and prices remain very favorable to producers, according to the latest agricultural bulletin N’kalo. In most countries, prices are primarily explained by inflation and the reduction in sown areas. Prices whose rise should continue, especially with the arrival of Ramadan which generally rhymes with greater consumption.
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