China, the world's biggest grain consumer, will cut rail costs to ship cereals from its main north-east production region, seeking to ease rising food costs that have driven the inflation rate to a 10-year high.
The surcharge on grain shipments under the so-called rail construction fund will be fixed at 18 yuan (S$3.57) per metric tonne, replacing the current method which increases costs based on distances shipped, the National Development and Reform Commission said in a statement on its website yesterday.
China last week said it would cut soya bean import duties and sell some of its pork, vegetable oil and grain stockpiles to ensure supplies during two weeks of celebrations that started this week. Consumer prices rose to a decade-high 6.5 per cent in August, with 92.3 per cent of that increase attributable to food costs, the commission said.
This helps make our soya beans, corn and rice more competitive to shipments from overseas,' said Li Shouchun, a manager at Datong Futures Co, in the north-eastern city of Harbin. 'Shipping by sea has gotten more expensive lately.' The commission in April ended grain's exemption from surcharges and started levying 0.012 yuan per kilometre for every tonne shipped by rail through Shanhaiguan, a hub connecting the producing provinces of Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning and Inner Mongolia to the southern consumer regions, Mr Li said. The savings may be significant for southern China buyers, who are located thousands of kilometres away, he said.
The surcharge on grain shipments under the so-called rail construction fund will be fixed at 18 yuan (S$3.57) per metric tonne, replacing the current method which increases costs based on distances shipped, the National Development and Reform Commission said in a statement on its website yesterday.
China last week said it would cut soya bean import duties and sell some of its pork, vegetable oil and grain stockpiles to ensure supplies during two weeks of celebrations that started this week. Consumer prices rose to a decade-high 6.5 per cent in August, with 92.3 per cent of that increase attributable to food costs, the commission said.
This helps make our soya beans, corn and rice more competitive to shipments from overseas,' said Li Shouchun, a manager at Datong Futures Co, in the north-eastern city of Harbin. 'Shipping by sea has gotten more expensive lately.' The commission in April ended grain's exemption from surcharges and started levying 0.012 yuan per kilometre for every tonne shipped by rail through Shanhaiguan, a hub connecting the producing provinces of Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning and Inner Mongolia to the southern consumer regions, Mr Li said. The savings may be significant for southern China buyers, who are located thousands of kilometres away, he said.