The US launched a pulse to China with the tariffs and China has responded not buying soybeans. It is wreaking havoc

China is hungry. We have seen it recently with fish, sweeping sides of South Americawe also see it with The taste for coffee they are developing And with a product very culturally linked to Asian countries: soy. The problem is that the amount of soybeans that produce is marginal (about 20 million tons) and esteem that need between 120 and 130 tons to meet their demand. Who do they buy it? To Brazil and the United States, but with the tariff pulse of recent months launched from the administration of Donald Trump, China has decided that its response would be to make the emptiness to the American soy. And it is causing the silos of the farms to be burst. Brazil and Africa are delighted. Bassoon. To understand the current situation, you have to look a few years ago. Makes one decadeChina was an undisputed ally of the American soybean market. It is estimated that about 40% of the soy of the United States went to China, but with the arrival of different commercial vetoes, things began to change. In 2024, China bought about 20% of its soy to the US. It supposes more than 27 million tons of soybeans with an approximate value of about 12.8 billion dollars, but Things began to twist With the new commercial war. Due to Tariff crossing Applied by Washington and Beijing to their respective imports, there were doubts about what would happen to that star product and if, with high tariffs, it would remain equally appetizing for Chinese importers. We already have the answer. The photo in 2025. From January to July of this year, it is estimated that China imported 16.5 million tons of American soybeans, a ridiculous figure compared to that of previous years. The worst is comingsince a virtually zero soybean import from the United States for the last quarter in which we are going to enter, contrasting with the more than ten million tons in the same period of the previous year. In fact, if in 2024 20% of China’s agricultural imports from the US were only soybeans, this year it is estimated that the figure will remain in 12% imports for all agricultural products. North Dakota. As they point in New York Timesin a typical year, the United States would send more than half of its soy to China, having states like North Dakota that would sell 70% of its production to the Asian giant. With this change of course in the market, farmers face the risk of blockbuster, filling silos, but without the possibility of giving way to so many tons of product. The consequences are what we already know: brutal prices falls, loss of land value and rural economy, while farmers have to continue paying mortgages. In the 2019 commercial war, the administration offered aid to farmers to support the pressure of a China that did not buy them, but it remains to be seen in the near future while senior US and China officials will They gathered This week in Spain to discuss commercial decisions (With Tiktok’s highlight). As NYT points out in NYT report, farmers expect that of soybeans to be one of the issues to be discussed, since there are examples of farms that will lose up to $ 400,000 only this year, being an inasumable situation in some cases. China looks at Brazil. But of course, China is not stopping buying soybeans for both human consumption and for the consumption of livestock, what happens is that they are buying it to other producers. The US is the second worldwide, but above it has someone who is living a totally opposite situation: Brazil. With the commercial war of 2019, China has already begun to diversify looking at the Brazilian market, but these years has been combining both for mere interest: as noted ReutersUSA sent its soy between September and January, before the Brazilian harvest that starred in the rest of the months. In the middle they point out that China has gained soybeans so as not to have to buy the United States this season. HE esteem that the South American soy will cover 95% of the October China demand. Also to Africa. In parallel, China is exploring new origins for soybeans, especially in Africa. Although we talk about modest volumes, imports from Nigeria either Mozambique They have increased in recent months, being part of China’s strategy to diversify, minimize risks and, in addition, invest directly in areas with agricultural potential and in which they can have greater control. Because this strategy is something that we not only see with soybeans, but also with infrastructure both in Latin America (among it, Railways and ports) as in Africawhere they are investing in projects that allow access to critical minerals and metals. It is something that reinforces its position geopolitics in front of the United States while diversifying their sources for ensure stability and continuous supply. In Xataka | There is so many demand for fish in China that has opted for drastic measures: two “aircraft carrier” as a hatchery

We have just discovered that rainfall has wreaked havoc on the Galician octopus

The octopus is an animal of interest in the Galician coast, after all, this animal is used as the main ingredient of one of the most popular dishes of its gastronomy. However the fishing of this cephalopod So singular drag difficulties when satisfying market demand. After the octopus track. Now a new study in which researchers from the Marine Research Institute of the CSIC and Pescanova Biomarine Center have participated, gives us an important clue about stress in the common octopus (Octopus vulgaris). It is a track that It can help us to protect the fisheries of these animals and even improve the treatment they receive in the incipient aquaculture sector. Supply and demand. The Galician octopus of our tables does not usually have its origin in Galicia. We are not talking about The Galician-Leonese dispute For the origin of the octopus To Feirabut of the fact that the fishing of this cephalopod on the Galician coasts does not represent more than a fraction of the total consumption of the country. According to data from Vigo lighthousethe octopus campaign 2023/24 resulted in catches of 1.5 million kg (a notable decrease compared to the previous year); while according to data from the Food consumption report in Spain Of 2023, the octopus consumption (next to that of squid) of Spanish households was some more than 41 million kg. Only in preserves, almost 385,000 kg of octopus were consumed according to the report. Piscifactory octopus? So where does the octopus come from? One of the origins is on the African coastspecifically in the north of the continent. Despite this, world octopus demand implies a huge pressure not only on Galician heshes, but also globally. In this context, cephalopod fishing progresses towards a new border, that of the aquaculture or fish farming octopus. A border wrapped, yes in the controversy. While it is true that this practice could relieve pressure on the heshadows and protect coveted species such as overfishing octopus, there are many The voices That they have Raised against The latest projects that point in this direction. The reason: the ethical dilemma to raise for consumption animals whose intelligence It is usually equated with that of some of the most intelligent vertebrate animals such as cats or crows. Octopus stress. It is not to be surprised therefore the scientific interest in understanding aspects such as stress in these animals. Interest reflected in studies such as The recently published In the magazine Physiology-Endocrinology and Metabolism. This analysis focused on stress response mechanisms and potential osmoregulation in the common octopus. The responsible team resorted to liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry techniques, which allowed it to contrast that these animals do not produce cortisol, corticosterone or cortisone, three hormones that we usually associate precisely with response to stress and osmoregulation in vertebrate animals. An unexpected effect. He Team details that their findings can explain the mass death of octopus on the Galician coast seen in times of heavy rains. A phenomenon that It also extends To other geographical contexts. As they point out, rapid falls in salinity caused by rains could jeopardize the “physiological stability” of animals, a direct consequence of not having mechanisms for response to external stress factors such as cortisol. Pondering pros and cons. Learning about this fascinating animal not only allows us to satisfy the curiosity that these creatures generate, it can also help us protect them. It can also help those who seek ways to raise these animals in captivity since we can now intuit that the difficulties in responding to stress may be behind the difficulties that this form of aquaculture poses. It can also help us explain the growing difficulty in fishing these animals, a difficulty reflected in the fall in the volume of catches. In Xataka | Do not call it “octopus”, call it “giant tongue that licks everything that touches.” Science is clear Image | Pexels

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