It was great to read some positive agricultural news put out by a portfolio strategist in Sydney last week. The basis for his analogy was that the growth in China has seen “soft commodities” lead the present commodity rally.
Soft Commodities under his classification include rice, corn, wheat and now beef. In overall terms China has already overtaken the United States in the consumption of grain, meat, coal and steel. He suggests as the Chinese become even wealthier and more westernised, the change in dietary habits from chicken and pork will turn more to beef. With the Chinese economy expecting to double every nine years, the figures certainly become quite incredible.
China’s total meat consumption would rise from the current 64 million tonnes to 181 million tonnes in 2031 or roughly 80% of the current world meat production. These statistics are certainly amazing, as one mainly thinks of China being the major growth factor for minerals only.

I suppose it helps when you have 1.5 billion people to feed.