All countries around the world have government bodies that do business for the government, they are similar to private sector companies in they buy goods and services for the country, particularly agricultural products. If you want to follow how well the people are being fed, watch the agencies that buy food.

In an article by Naveen Thukral and Ella Cao of Reuters, China state-run trading firm COFCO has booked a cargo of about 50,000 tons of new-crop Australian canola.

The purchase would mark China’s first imports from Australia since 2020 when China stopped importing from Australia. Australia is the 2nd-largest canola exporter.

China needs agricultural imports and uses the purchases as a diplomatic measure, it will buy from one country then turn around and make another country the favored nation.

Also reported was China’s COFCO was increasing the size of the soybean storage facility in Santos, Brazil. In addition, COFCO has hubs in Rosario in Argentian, St. Louis in the US, Nikolaev in Ukraine and Constanta in Romania. The company deals with both the large private sector grain trading companies and states to state around the world.

Linking to dividend paying stocks, when it comes to food, in addition to the private sector companies the state run companies exist to move from the storage facilities to the warehouse to the consumer. Similar to many industries it is both simple and complex, which is the reason to buy a profit making company. There are many buyers and to consistently make profits is both simple and complex, as a shareholder you just have to see the results.

There are more questions than answers, till the next time – to raising questions.