China hungry. Antarctica stuffed.

[JulieW]

From Daily Reckoning.

China has a major problem. It's called pollution. The environment is so toxic after years of industrialisation and lax environmental standards that it's literally killing the population.

You've probably heard some wild stories about China before. The baby formula laced with poison. The rivers that catch on fire or change colour. The dead animals that show up on riverbanks. Air pollution so bad that the rate of lung cancer in China is skyrocketing.

A Financial Times report last September suggested China needs US$1.1 trillion dollars to clean up its soil pollution alone.

Nearly one-fifth of its arable land is contaminated. China's food supply is unsafe and the country knows it.

That's a problem when you have 1.4 billion people to feed.

The race for the last wilderness on earth

That's why it's leading the race for natural resource assets all over the world.

China is building up a strategic presence in and around Antarctica. Antarctica is the last great untapped resources of protein in the world. It's quiet, but it's happening.

That's why in 2014 Chinese Premier Xi Jinping visited Hobart in Tasmania.

He signed a five year accord for Chinese vessels and aircraft to resupply before they head further south.

China is already constructing five bases in Antarctica.

The New York Times reported in December on Antarctica,

'China and South Korea, both of which operate state-of-the-art bases here, are ramping up their fishing of krill, the shrimplike crustaceans found in abundance in the Southern Ocean, while Russia recently thwarted efforts to create one of the world's largest ocean sanctuaries here

'Chinese officials say the expansion in Antarctica prioritizes scientific research, but they also acknowledge that concerns about "resource security" influence their moves.'

Food security is playing out in Aussie stocks

How does the world feed China?

All this is with rising protein consumption of a richer Chinese middle class too, don't forget.

The Financial Times cites a report from Boston Consulting Group suggesting that 'upper middle class' households in China will double in four years. This sector of the population is forecast to account for 81% of Chinese consumption growth.

According to the Australian Financial Review this morning, currently 30 million Chinese are eating Western style foods. It's possible this could go up 10 times as high in three years.

That's 300 million people.

As the FT says: 'Now that ever more shoppers have the money to avoid the negative effect of all that pollution on their food, they are increasingly willing to drop a dime on doing so.'

According to the UN data, China currently produces one third less corn, wheat and other grains than the US.

That means the pollution problem is on top of the fact that a lot of China has a shortage of water and arable land anyway.

Put them together and you can see why China is going around the world looking for sources of safe, reliable food imports.

We can expect more deals like the Syngenta one. We can also expect this trend to keep playing out in the Aussie share market.

 

[Skyrocket]

I know someone who had to go to Bejing for a week for his work. He said he had to stay indoors for the whole time because the air was so polluted.

 

[SpacePete]

I know someone who had to go to Bejing for a week for his work. He said he had to stay indoors for the whole time because the air was so polluted.

There's an Australian company that makes high quality air purifiers and filters. I believe China is a good export market for them. If you have a few grand to spend on an air filter, I can strongly recommend their products over any China import (based on my experience): http://www.inovaairpurifiers.com.au/aboutus.php

 

[SpacePete]

I wonder if food prices in Australia will massively increase as we compete with Chinese buyers willing to pay high prices for healthy produce? (Similar to the natural gas market where Australian consumers must compete with the international market for Australian gas.)

We may find ourselves surviving on crappy Chinese instant noodles while the best produce heads offshore. No point complaining however, we should each learn how to grow our own healthy vegetables and maybe even own some chickens. The farms and water rights may be sold off to foreign buyers, but we'd still have a degree of autonomy and independence if we could supply our own food.

 

[Skyrocket]

Thanks but I don't plan on ever going to China in my lifetime

 

[Topherclaus]

Do you have a link to a full article?

 

[JulieW]

Do you have a link to a full article?

Sorry, attributed it wrongly:

http://www.moneymorning.com.au/2016...gest-foreign-takeover-in-chinese-history.html

 

[jnkmbx]

No point complaining however, we should each learn how to grow our own healthy vegetables and maybe even own some chickens. The farms and water rights may be sold off to foreign buyers, but we'd still have a degree of autonomy and independence if we could supply our own food.

Until they start using CIA tactics and contaminate our lands, forcing us to buy their products. =_=

Well, it's worth a shot anyway SilverPete. We gotta try and see how far we can go.

 

[QLDSILVER]

Obviously tired of the other 'eases' scientific whaling pursuits in Australian southern waters and will commence endangered species relocation from Antarctica to their new 'Sanctuary Island' in the south China Sea...

 

[Au-mageddon]

Increase Aus beef exports to China .. means that there will be less available for Australian market ... beef prices will increase dramatically which we are already seeing
(not to be helped by China buying whole or part of Kidman holding/assets - which is their intention)

Same goes for Aus farms they are buying up - China has already declared that all produce will be exported

So we will be stuck importing lesser quality food - which due to our ridiculously lax food labelling laws here, we wont really know exactly how much or what is in that can / meal

Not to mention the radioactive fruit that Japan is exporting to AUS apparently as its too hot for their own standards.

 

[Naphthalene Man]

I wonder if food prices in Australia will massively increase as we compete with Chinese buyers willing to pay high prices for healthy produce? (Similar to the natural gas market where Australian consumers must compete with the international market for Australian gas.)

We may find ourselves surviving on crappy Chinese instant noodles while the best produce heads offshore. No point complaining however, we should each learn how to grow our own healthy vegetables and maybe even own some chickens. The farms and water rights may be sold off to foreign buyers, but we'd still have a degree of autonomy and independence if we could supply our own food.

Time for gardens in the yard to change to vegetables and home grown produce?
If you do and live in an inner city area you might also have extensive lead pollution in your soils. Be aware and either get your soils tested or use raised garden beds.

If you don't want creepy Chinese noodles there is always Indonesian noodles.

 

[SpacePete]

I wonder if food prices in Australia will massively increase as we compete with Chinese buyers willing to pay high prices for healthy produce? (Similar to the natural gas market where Australian consumers must compete with the international market for Australian gas.)

We may find ourselves surviving on crappy Chinese instant noodles while the best produce heads offshore. No point complaining however, we should each learn how to grow our own healthy vegetables and maybe even own some chickens. The farms and water rights may be sold off to foreign buyers, but we'd still have a degree of autonomy and independence if we could supply our own food.

Time for gardens in the yard to change to vegetables and home grown produce?
If you do and live in an inner city area you might also have extensive lead pollution in your soils. Be aware and either get your soils tested or use raised garden beds.

If you don't want creepy Chinese noodles there is always Indonesian noodles.

To complement the extensive lead pollution, I also have a nice dusting of asbestos. The daycare centre outside of which asbestos was dumped a few years ago is a couple of hundred meters from my apartment, just near a nice little community garden. There are numerous building sites here in inner Sydney that don't bother with dust & airborne pollution control. There was also mention of uncovered trucks taking away asbestos waste and it was blowing off in the wind.

 

[bordsilver]

Increase Aus beef exports to China .. means that there will be less available for Australian market ... beef prices will increase dramatically which we are already seeing
(not to be helped by China buying whole or part of Kidman holding/assets - which is their intention)

Same goes for Aus farms they are buying up - China has already declared that all produce will be exported

So we will be stuck importing lesser quality food - which due to our ridiculously lax food labelling laws here, we wont really know exactly how much or what is in that can / meal

Not to mention the radioactive fruit that Japan is exporting to AUS apparently as its too hot for their own standards.

Yeah. Better to let the fuckers starve. How dare they be foreign and how dare Australians sell shit to them. I hate it when people freely do what they want with their property because they should give it to me.

<sarc>

 

[mmm....shiney!]

Increase Aus beef exports to China .. means that there will be less available for Australian market ... beef prices will increase dramatically which we are already seeing
(not to be helped by China buying whole or part of Kidman holding/assets - which is their intention)

Same goes for Aus farms they are buying up - China has already declared that all produce will be exported

So we will be stuck importing lesser quality food - which due to our ridiculously lax food labelling laws here, we wont really know exactly how much or what is in that can / meal

Not to mention the radioactive fruit that Japan is exporting to AUS apparently as its too hot for their own standards.

Here comes the Fallacy Ref:

 

[SpacePete]

Increase Aus beef exports to China .. means that there will be less available for Australian market ... beef prices will increase dramatically which we are already seeing
(not to be helped by China buying whole or part of Kidman holding/assets - which is their intention)

Same goes for Aus farms they are buying up - China has already declared that all produce will be exported

So we will be stuck importing lesser quality food - which due to our ridiculously lax food labelling laws here, we wont really know exactly how much or what is in that can / meal

Not to mention the radioactive fruit that Japan is exporting to AUS apparently as its too hot for their own standards.

Yeah. Better to let the fuckers starve. How dare they be foreign and how dare Australians sell shit to them. I hate it when people freely do what they want with their property because they should give it to me.

<sarc>

It seems you are more offended by people commenting on such matters.

 

[Big A.D.]

Increase Aus beef exports to China .. means that there will be less available for Australian market ... beef prices will increase dramatically which we are already seeing
(not to be helped by China buying whole or part of Kidman holding/assets - which is their intention)

Same goes for Aus farms they are buying up - China has already declared that all produce will be exported

So we will be stuck importing lesser quality food - which due to our ridiculously lax food labelling laws here, we wont really know exactly how much or what is in that can / meal

Not to mention the radioactive fruit that Japan is exporting to AUS apparently as its too hot for their own standards.

Yeah. Better to let the fuckers starve. How dare they be foreign and how dare Australians sell shit to them. I hate it when people freely do what they want with their property because they should give it to me.

<sarc>

Well, they did freely do what they wanted with their own property, didn't they? They covered it with industrial pollutants.

If you can just go out and buy more land after trashing your own, where is the incentive not to destroy productive land that food grows on?

 

[bordsilver]

It seems you are more offended by people commenting on such matters.

I'm offended by people who make shallow arguments for the purpose of stealing other people's basic rights (see my sig).

 

[SpacePete]

It seems you are more offended by people commenting on such matters.

I'm offended by people who make shallow arguments for the purpose of stealing other people's basic rights (see my sig).

Anyone who lobbies a government in order to get the government to ban something is in my view an undesirable person. And I mean anyone. - Kris Sayce

(sig). Anyone who lobbies a government in order to get the government to ban something is in my view an undesirable person. And I mean anyone. - Kris Sayce

Basic rights. So you are arguing that the people of Australia don't have the basic right to plan for growth in on-shore demand in an environment of growing off-shore demand due to population growth and destruction of productive agricultural land. Would such argument lead to denying the basic right of self-defense through preemptive action to prevent future problems? Where are the concepts of time and change in this debate?

 

[bordsilver]

It seems you are more offended by people commenting on such matters.

I'm offended by people who make shallow arguments for the purpose of stealing other people's basic rights (see my sig).

Anyone who lobbies a government in order to get the government to ban something is in my view an undesirable person. And I mean anyone. - Kris Sayce

(sig). Anyone who lobbies a government in order to get the government to ban something is in my view an undesirable person. And I mean anyone. - Kris Sayce

Basic rights. So you are arguing that the people of Australia don't have the basic right to plan for growth in on-shore demand in an environment of growing off-shore demand due to population growth and destruction of productive agricultural land. Would such argument lead to denying the basic right of self-defense through preemptive action to prevent future problems? Where are the concepts of time and change in this debate?

No. If you look at the context I am arguing about people's right to peacefully trade their property with whoever they wish. It is one of the most fundamental rights that flows from people's natural right of self-ownership and consequent right to life and liberty.

 

[mmm....shiney!]

If you can just go out and buy more land after trashing your own, where is the incentive not to destroy productive land that food grows on?

When the cost of replacing the productive land you have trashed is more expensive than sustainable stewardship and/or rehabilitation practices.

Obviously farming land in Australia is cheap, which is good news because you and SP can get together and buy one of these farms that are being sold to foreign interests if you that feel strongly about it.

Oh that's right you don't.........you just want the government to ban the sale. :lol: