Does $1.35 scare you? Corn prices have soared, rarely seen in a decade.

Recently, the sharp increase in the price of a grain of corn is having a far-reaching impact in many areas downstream.

"in May and June this year, corn in Dalian was still 1.05 yuan to 1.1 yuan per jin, but now it has risen to about 1.35 yuan. The price of corn is so high, at least in the last decade or so. " Industry insiders say that corn, which seems to be far away from urban people, actually deeply affects their lives, and the price fluctuations of this commodity are directly related to the trend of meat, eggs and milk on the urban table.

Crazy corn.

"in the past two days, the price of corn in Dalian is 1.33 yuan to 1.35 yuan per jin. I have opened a pig farm for 15 years, and I have never encountered such expensive corn." According to the person in charge of a large pig farm in Dalian, in May and June this year, the price of corn was 1.05 yuan to 1.1 yuan per catty, which belongs to a relatively normal market; from late July to early August, it rose to about 1.25 yuan per catty; since then, corn prices have risen all the way up to about 1.35 yuan today, and it is said that corn prices in some areas have even exceeded 1.4 yuan per catty recently.

"in the same period last year, the price of corn in Dalian was about 1.1 yuan per jin, and the price has increased by more than 20% this year compared with the same period last year." The head of a chicken farm in Dalian said that recently, the performance of corn has been quite crazy, and it is rare for corn prices to rise as fast as they can.

"Today, the latest arrival price of corn at Dalian Port (601880, stock bar) is 2530 yuan to 2570 yuan per ton. At present, most of the arrivals at Dalian port are high-quality old corn from the northeast. " According to people familiar with the matter, the current round of rapid rise in corn prices began in late July and continues until now. It is just that in the past two days, the arrival price of corn has dropped slightly, but it has not fluctuated much.

Traders have no surplus grain.

Why has the price of corn, a commodity that has always been relatively stable, risen too fast recently? In this regard, the person in charge of the above pig farm said: "every year from August to November is a green period of corn supply, during this period, corn prices are almost common." However, this year, due to drought in some major grain producing areas, corn production has been reduced more seriously, and the market has made quite pessimistic expectations for corn production, which has contributed to an "abnormal rise" in prices. "

Since May, the state has conducted competitive auctions on corn, and because traders had less grain left at that time, their desire to bid up prices was very urgent, thus pushing up corn prices. However, recently, new grain has been sporadically listed in some production areas in Northeast China, and some traders still have a certain amount of inventory in their hands, so their enthusiasm for bidding has diminished, and corn prices have turned back slightly. " Corn traders had little surplus grain in May because the government-led harvest had absorbed large amounts of corn in the northeast, according to the insider's analysis.

"in July and August, there was indeed a shortage of corn on the market. In the case of northern ports, including Dayaowan Port, Beiliang Port, Jinzhou Port (600190, stock bar), Yingkou Port (600317, stock bar) and Dandong Port, the total amount of corn arriving at the port in July was only 1.19 million tons, while in the first seven months, the cumulative corn arrival volume of these northern ports was 14.79 million tons. Even if calculated on average, the "normal arrival" of corn per month should be more than 2 million tons. " Insiders in Dalian said the data confirmed the tight supply of corn at that time.

In addition, the drought in many areas this year is also a related reason for this round of corn price increases, at least affecting the market expectations of the future price of corn. "as of late August, the provinces where drought had the greatest impact on corn growth were Henan and Liaoning. It is estimated that the national corn output will be reduced by more than 6 million tons this year. " China Grain Network experts said in an interview with the media.

Growing corn in Dalian

10-year income doubles

The high price of corn is undoubtedly good news for local farmers in Dalian, but there is still some uncertainty about their harvest. "at present, Dalian farmers have little old corn left. If this market lasts until February and March next year, when Dalian's new corn enters the centralized sales period this year, the income of corn farmers will be considerable." Industry insiders said that according to preliminary statistics, the sown amount of corn in Dalian has exceeded 2.8 million mu this year.

According to farmers, in normal years, the average yield of corn per mu in Dalian is more than 1000 jin, and some high producing areas can reach more than 1500 jin. According to the current calculation of 1.35 yuan per jin of corn, the gross income of one mu of cornfield is 1350 yuan ~ 2000 yuan, excluding seed, chemical fertilizer and cattle farming, the net income is 600 yuan ~ 1200 yuan. Of course, in the cost calculation, there is no removal of farmers' own labor.

"in recent years, the income from growing corn has increased year by year. Compared with 10 years ago, at that time, the price of corn was less than 0.5 yuan per catty. Moreover, at that time, the average yield of one mu of land was only 700 to 800 jin, and the net income of growing one mu of corn was only 200 to 300 yuan." Mr. Jin, a farmer in Dalian, said that the income of farmers growing corn in Dalian has at least doubled in 10 years, driven by higher yields and rising corn prices.