"Grain traders" encounter difficulties in selling grain: private grain depots are not adequate.

Along with the cigarette, I handed over a business card. This is the habit of grain brokers. On the business card, in addition to the basic information, information such as "large amount of grain collection" and "long-term grain collection" reveals the industry needs of the brokers. The bank account number of the account is directly printed on the business card of the broker with a strong sense of service.

For more than 30 years since the reform of China's grain circulation system in 1978, the market-oriented reform of grain circulation system has been continuously promoted, the pattern of grain distribution has evolved quietly, and multiple purchasing subjects have gradually emerged. Grain brokers, commonly known as "grain traders", come out in keeping with the times and play an important role in making it convenient for farmers to sell grain, broaden grain purchase and marketing channels, and assist state-owned grain enterprises to grasp grain sources. they are an important part of the grain circulation system.

Grain brokers are essentially businessmen, and most of their business model is to directly engage in grain purchase and sell them to nearby collection and storage enterprises and grain operators to earn the grain price difference. Find a suitable site to build a warehouse, place a scale, purchase necessary equipment such as a grain conveyor belt and a grain vibrating screen, and a grain purchase point is opened.

He, a grain broker in Xincai County, a directly administered county in Henan Province, just joined the industry this year, but the sudden drop in grain prices caught him by surprise. He complained to reporters that he and his partners received grain from farmers with reference to the collection and storage price, but the price began to fall before they could sell it, losing NT $100,000 to NT $200,000 by the end of October.

The decline in grain prices has an impact on the whole industry, and the losses of grain brokers are common in Henan and even the whole country. Major grain growers and grain brokers all reported to our reporter that losses ranging from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands are very normal. Compared with some farmers who did not hesitate to sell grain directly to brokers, farmers did not actually suffer before the price fell. The broker who received the food took the risk of the transfer.

The bitterness of grain brokers

Wang Dengfeng, who collected more than 3 million jin of wheat and 600000 jin of corn this year, did not sell nearly 1 million jin of wheat until early November. He complained bitterly to the reporter that the grain he had sold made his loss close to 100000. If all of it was sold out, the loss would be even greater, 300000.

Wang Dengfeng is a grain broker in Queshan County, Zhumadian City. He has been engaged in grain industry for more than 20 years and has been engaged in grain purchase for nearly 10 years since he was bought out and laid off from the local grain department in 2006. In the local area, Wang Dengfeng is a large-scale and experienced grain broker who owns a grain depot with a storage capacity of 10,000 tons.

"after working as an individual, no matter how much you earn or how little you earn, you basically earn money year after year, but this year you lose a lot of money." Wang Dengfeng said that because of the grain purchase business, liquidity is very important, sometimes 20 to 300000 yuan a day, except for loans can only borrow money from relatives and friends.

When he began to buy grain this year, Wang Dengfeng had seven hundred thousand or eight hundred thousand yuan in working capital on hand, another 1.5 million yuan in loans from local agricultural and commercial banks, and more than one million yuan in loans from the private sector. But the fall in food prices has made him face the Hamlet problem of "sell or not sell"-sell, the price is not good, the loss is big; do not sell, every jin of grain will increase the interest by a penny. Bank interest on wheat harvested in June this year has increased by 5% by October.

According to the current market situation, the market price can not make up for the cost price composed of acquisition price and interest. On the day of meeting with the reporter, Wang Dengfeng handled the wheat of three large trucks, but the deal cost him more than 50,000. He said: such a situation will deal a heavy blow to farmers, but it will hit individual businesses even harder. Now we not only lose the principal, but also put in the interest.

When Wang Dengfeng bought the grain harvest, it was basically in accordance with the market price at that time. Judging from experience, he thought that since the purchase price of wheat in the market this year was the same as that of last year, there should be no problem leaving it there. Since the farmers send gross grain (raw grain without cleaning up impurities), with reference to the market price minus the cost of sieving and removing impurities, as long as there is a profit of one penny in a jin of grain, it will be bought by farmers.

Because the companies in the lower reaches of the grain industry chain will lower prices, generally speaking, brokers always want to sell to the China National Grain Reserve Management Corporation as long as the grain reaches the standard. Although the reserve will also encounter the intermediate link of multiple brokers, to brokers like Wang Dengfeng, the price of grain is no longer high, but this way is relatively stable, brokers are still willing to choose this way.

However, the fall in prices is still unexpected. Wang Dengfeng said that the price of wheat began to fall before it could be sold, and it was too late to sell it. As long as there was a lot of inventory this year, there were heavy losses. For grain brokers who have just entered the market this year, it is normal to lose NT $100,000 or NT $200,000. "I've made a big deal, and I've been in this business for a long time. I'll lose some money. After all, I still have some family background."

Wang Dengfeng, who attaches great importance to personal reputation, said that even if he ran out of money, he would have to repay the borrowed money when he sold his house and land. "these fixed assets are worth millions of dollars!" Fortunately, the money borrowed by the private sector did not expire at the same time, and the credibility accumulated over the years of acquisition made him particularly trusted. He said proudly, "Farmers have idle funds because of interest rate cuts and inflation. They don't want to deposit it in the bank." but let me take it. "

Talking about his plans for next year, Wang Dengfeng said that he will continue to work in the grain industry, but "learn a lesson and learn a lesson." Because of the high interest rate of the bank, we are not going to make any more loans next year. If you can't see the market fluctuations clearly, you don't dare to harvest a lot of grain easily, but "collect some and go some" according to the liquidity on hand. If the price of grain next year is about the same as this year, and the reserves will no longer receive food because there is no storage capacity, then choose to wait and see. "if you can't, there will be no grain, and if you don't, you won't pay for it."