BEIJING // China's dairy farmers, squeezed by rising costs and the recent scare over tainted milk, are choosing to get out of the business, rather than place their trust in a system they consider corrupt and flawed.
Farmers such as Mr Peng have been forced to throw out dozens of litres of milk each day since Sept 11, when news that infant formula contained harmful levels of the industrial chemical melamine first started to emerge.
Within a week or so, it was announced four babies had died of kidney failure and that tens of thousands had been hospitalised. Mr Peng, who like many farmers caught up in the scandal was hesitant to reveal too many personal details, considers himself lucky. He has just sold his three cows and has found a job in a local factory.
"I am out of trouble," he said. "But this is not the case with many of my friends."
Mr Peng comes from Zhengding county near Shijiazhuang, the capital of Hebei province and where the milk scandal originated.
Before Sept 11, Mr Peng was selling all his produce to Sanlu, China's third largest milk producer and once the pride of the province.
Since Sanlu was shut down, hundreds of small farmers who supplied the company are left with milk they cannot sell and cows that are now not worth anything. At first, Mr Peng and some of his friends joined forces and advertised their milk on the internet. But the farmers made few sales.
By that time, the scandal had spread further with more dairy products found to be tainted with melamine.
With no idea when, or if, Sanlu will be able to reopen (two legal cases are pending against the company), Mr Peng said it was better to sell the cows than remain in limbo.
He is not the only one choosing to cash out of the milk market.
Although the government has earmarked 300 million yuan (Dh162m) to help small farmers survive and promised new restrictions and tighter controls, many are not willing to take the risk.
Mrs and Mr Niu entered the business 10 years ago when a friend convinced them to buy a few cows. Their business grew on the back of Sanlu's soaring profits as a growing middle-class in China turned to dairy products.
The couple now own 10 cows in the small village of Dong Bei Niu, 160km north-east of Shijiazhuang.
But for the past several weeks, the cows have been at the couple's property, instead of at the milk collecting station, which would then pass the milk on to Sanlu or other dairy companies.
Although the couple are receiving government subsidies (10 yuan per day per cow, enough for the feed) and are selling a small amount to villagers, it is still not enough.
Soon, the couple hope to sell their dairy cows and raise pigs, the price of which has risen more than 60 per cent over the past year, and cattle for beef.
"Cows are too tiring and I want more time with my grandchild. The timing is good," Mrs Niu said.
Mr Niu added: "Plus, raising cows for milk is not profitable anymore."
This underscores a much larger problem within the industry. The price of feed has doubled over the past year, but milk stations, and the middle men, have refused to pay the farmers higher prices.
Mrs Niu said she was selling milk at 1.6 yuan per litre last year. This year it was two yuan per litre, but still not enough to cover the rising costs.
"The agents make money from us. They make money from Sanlu," Mrs Niu said. "They fix the price and we have no say in this."
News that Sanlu was selling contaminated milk came as a complete surprise to many small dairy farmers, who said they mostly heard about it through the media. Mr Niu said he received his first warning when Sanlu stopped purchasing milk from one of his friends.
The couple are quiet, however, when asked who they think is responsible for topping up the milk with melamine, a chemical that can make watered-down milk look as though it has a high protein content.
The subject is sensitive and all milk producers received notices last week forbidding them to speak to journalists. But most of the anger seems to be directed towards the milk collecting stations and high-level officials, who are alleged to have received kickbacks to turn a blind eye to the chemical additions.
It is still unclear who is responsible and at what stage of the process the melamine entered the milk. Though milk producers and the government blame the milk stations, analysts said it is unlikely they could have done so without the tacit approval of the big milk companies. Dozens of arrests have been made, including milk farmers meddling with their milk, milk stations operators, Sanlu officials, people making the melamine and government officials in Hebei province. Arrests are also happening in Inner Mongolia where Yili and Mengnui dairy companies are based.
Sanlu, which produced 6,800 tonnes of milk a day before it was shut down, bought most its raw material from the milk stations, who in turn collected the milk from small farmers who thrived as the government eased credit and supported the industry to keep up with demand.
Revenue in China from milk-formula rose to US$3.1 billion in 2007 from $1.4bn in 2003, according to Euromonitor International. Revenue from other dairy products grew to $17.9bn from $8.8bn in the same period, the journal said.
To avoid social unrest and a total collapse of the local industry, the government has been especially keen to reassure farmers, promising subsidies, regulating milk collection stations and imposing restrictions on the amount of melamine allowed in any food products.
However, Mrs Niu is more upset than angry. She knows she will get money from selling her cows to Yili or Mengnui China's first two milk producers based in Inner Mongolia.
"People still want our cows. It is not that bad," she said. Cows that were worth 15,000 yuan a few months ago are now selling for 10,000 yuan.
Some farmers are more resigned.
"The situation is not as desperate as some reports have said," said Mr Pang, a friend of the couple. "At first people panicked but now they realise they have other options like working in a factory or raising other animals mostly chicken or pigs." Mr Pang sold his five cows and now owns a small transport business. He said he will never return to milk farming.
* The National
Ruwais timeline
1971 Abu Dhabi National Oil Company established
1980 Ruwais Housing Complex built, located 10 kilometres away from industrial plants
1982 120,000 bpd capacity Ruwais refinery complex officially inaugurated by the founder of the UAE Sheikh Zayed
1984 Second phase of Ruwais Housing Complex built. Today the 7,000-unit complex houses some 24,000 people.
1985 The refinery is expanded with the commissioning of a 27,000 b/d hydro cracker complex
2009 Plans announced to build $1.2 billion fertilizer plant in Ruwais, producing urea
2010 Adnoc awards $10bn contracts for expansion of Ruwais refinery, to double capacity from 415,000 bpd
2014 Ruwais 261-outlet shopping mall opens
2014 Production starts at newly expanded Ruwais refinery, providing jet fuel and diesel and allowing the UAE to be self-sufficient for petrol supplies
2014 Etihad Rail begins transportation of sulphur from Shah and Habshan to Ruwais for export
2017 Aldar Academies to operate Adnoc’s schools including in Ruwais from September. Eight schools operate in total within the housing complex.
2018 Adnoc announces plans to invest $3.1 billion on upgrading its Ruwais refinery
2018 NMC Healthcare selected to manage operations of Ruwais Hospital
2018 Adnoc announces new downstream strategy at event in Abu Dhabi on May 13
Source: The National
Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
- Join parent networks
- Look beyond school fees
- Keep an open mind
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, (Leon banned).
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
The%20specs
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THE SPECS
Engine: 1.5-litre turbocharged four-cylinder
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David Haye record
Total fights: 32
Wins: 28
Wins by KO: 26
Losses: 4
About Proto21
Date started: May 2018
Founder: Pir Arkam
Based: Dubai
Sector: Additive manufacturing (aka, 3D printing)
Staff: 18
Funding: Invested, supported and partnered by Joseph Group
End of free parking
- paid-for parking will be rolled across Abu Dhabi island on August 18
- drivers will have three working weeks leeway before fines are issued
- areas that are currently free to park - around Sheikh Zayed Bridge, Maqta Bridge, Mussaffah Bridge and the Corniche - will now require a ticket
- villa residents will need a permit to park outside their home. One vehicle is Dh800 and a second is Dh1,200.
- The penalty for failing to pay for a ticket after 10 minutes will be Dh200
- Parking on a patch of sand will incur a fine of Dh300
How much sugar is in chocolate Easter eggs?
- The 169g Crunchie egg has 15.9g of sugar per 25g serving, working out at around 107g of sugar per egg
- The 190g Maltesers Teasers egg contains 58g of sugar per 100g for the egg and 19.6g of sugar in each of the two Teasers bars that come with it
- The 188g Smarties egg has 113g of sugar per egg and 22.8g in the tube of Smarties it contains
- The Milky Bar white chocolate Egg Hunt Pack contains eight eggs at 7.7g of sugar per egg
- The Cadbury Creme Egg contains 26g of sugar per 40g egg
Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
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Singham Again
Director: Rohit Shetty
Stars: Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ranveer Singh, Akshay Kumar, Tiger Shroff, Deepika Padukone
Rating: 3/5
A Cat, A Man, and Two Women
Junichiro Tamizaki
Translated by Paul McCarthy
Daunt Books
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
The National Archives, Abu Dhabi
Founded over 50 years ago, the National Archives collects valuable historical material relating to the UAE, and is the oldest and richest archive relating to the Arabian Gulf.
Much of the material can be viewed on line at the Arabian Gulf Digital Archive - https://www.agda.ae/en
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
More on Quran memorisation:
SPECS
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10 tips for entry-level job seekers
- Have an up-to-date, professional LinkedIn profile. If you don’t have a LinkedIn account, set one up today. Avoid poor-quality profile pictures with distracting backgrounds. Include a professional summary and begin to grow your network.
- Keep track of the job trends in your sector through the news. Apply for job alerts at your dream organisations and the types of jobs you want – LinkedIn uses AI to share similar relevant jobs based on your selections.
- Double check that you’ve highlighted relevant skills on your resume and LinkedIn profile.
- For most entry-level jobs, your resume will first be filtered by an applicant tracking system for keywords. Look closely at the description of the job you are applying for and mirror the language as much as possible (while being honest and accurate about your skills and experience).
- Keep your CV professional and in a simple format – make sure you tailor your cover letter and application to the company and role.
- Go online and look for details on job specifications for your target position. Make a list of skills required and set yourself some learning goals to tick off all the necessary skills one by one.
- Don’t be afraid to reach outside your immediate friends and family to other acquaintances and let them know you are looking for new opportunities.
- Make sure you’ve set your LinkedIn profile to signal that you are “open to opportunities”. Also be sure to use LinkedIn to search for people who are still actively hiring by searching for those that have the headline “I’m hiring” or “We’re hiring” in their profile.
- Prepare for online interviews using mock interview tools. Even before landing interviews, it can be useful to start practising.
- Be professional and patient. Always be professional with whoever you are interacting with throughout your search process, this will be remembered. You need to be patient, dedicated and not give up on your search. Candidates need to make sure they are following up appropriately for roles they have applied.
Arda Atalay, head of Mena private sector at LinkedIn Talent Solutions, Rudy Bier, managing partner of Kinetic Business Solutions and Ben Kinerman Daltrey, co-founder of KinFitz
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The specs: 2019 Mercedes-Benz GLE
Price, base / as tested Dh274,000 (estimate)
Engine 3.0-litre inline six-cylinder
Gearbox Nine-speed automatic
Power 245hp @ 4,200rpm
Torque 500Nm @ 1,600rpm
Fuel economy, combined 6.4L / 100km
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
Barcelona 3
Messi (27’, 32’, 87’)
Leganes 1
El Zhar (68’)
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