Every reporter: Yu Yaofeng Every editor: Liang Xiao
Cannabis, this weird plant native to East and South Asia, has had two faces, the devil and the angel, since people discovered its effects - on the one hand, It is the source of drugs as famous as opium poppy and coca . On the other hand, it has medicinal and economic value.
The controversy surrounding cannabis has never stopped, and industrial hemp, which removes toxicity, has spread through the gaps in legislation and became one of the hottest topics three years ago. More than 40 domestic listed companies have announced their entry into this field. As long as they are exposed to the concept of industrial hemp, their stock prices often soar. The turning point of
occurred on May 28, 2021. At that time, the National Medical Products Administration issued an announcement on updating the catalog of banned raw materials for cosmetics. Cannabis kernels, hemp seed oil, and hemp leaf extract, which were gaining momentum, were also listed. It was like a basin of cold water falling from the sky, and the popularity of industrial hemp dropped sharply.
Today, in the capital market, few listed companies have released performance information about industrial hemp. Instead, there are news that projects are either stalled or waiting to be delivered.
Yunnan is the first province in China to legalize the cultivation of industrial hemp. It is also the most suitable area for growing industrial hemp. The cultivation areas were once spread across all cities and states in the province. In June of this year, reporters from " Daily Economic News " conducted on-the-spot visits to several industrial hemp-growing counties in Yunnan and found that industrial hemp was rarely grown on the undulating mountains of Yunnan. The processing and refining workshops of some listed companies are also in a state of suspension. Some growers told reporters that all the millions of yuan they invested have been lost.
Some industrial hemp projects are not progressing as expected
Industrial hemp refers to cannabis with a tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) content of less than 0.3%. It is mainly used in medicine, food health, agricultural cultivation, feed and other fields. Judging from the scope of cultivation, my country has not yet liberalized the cultivation of industrial hemp on a large scale, and it can only be legally cultivated in Yunnan and Heilongjiang provinces.
Chengzhi Shares (SZ000990, stock price 10.21 yuan, market value 12.79 billion yuan) is one of the first batch of listed companies to deploy industrial cannabis. By controlling Yunnan Hanmeng Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Yunnan Hanmeng) located in Kunming, Chengzhi has entered the field of industrial hemp processing and extraction.
In March 2019, Chengzhi Shares, through its wholly-owned subsidiary Beijing Chengzhi Hi-Tech Biotechnology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Chengzhi Hi-Tech), acquired 37.14% of the equity of Yunnan Han League for a consideration of 200 million yuan, and the capital increase in Yunnan Han League will not exceed 138 million yuan. After the capital increase was completed, Chengzhi Hi-Tech became the controlling shareholder of Yunnan Hanmeng, holding 49% of the shares. Regarding the source of funds, Chengzhi Shares and Chengzhi Hi-Tech solved the problem through their own and self-raised funds.
At that time, Chengzhi Co., Ltd. stated that Yunnan Hanmeng had obtained the pre-approval qualification for preparing industrial hemp mosaic and leaf processing in Guandu, Yunnan. The merger of Yunnan Hanmeng into Chengzhi Hi-Tech will enrich the company's product line and cultivate new profit growth points. Chengzhi Hi-tech's holding of Yunnan Hanmeng is of strategic significance for the company to enter the industrial hemp industry.
Investors in Chengzhi Shares are also paying close attention to the progress of the company’s industrial hemp business. Almost every once in a while, shareholders ask Chengzhi Shares about the situation of Yunnan Hanmeng through the interactive platform. Most of Chengzhi Shares’ replies are that the factory delivery is in progress. The progress is medium, please pay attention to relevant announcements.
html On June 17, the reporter came to Yunnan Hanmeng located in Guandu Industrial Park, Kunming. That day, the sky was clear in Kunming. On the road in the park named after the number plate, the petals that fell on the ground were blown up by the wind, revealing the vitality of summer. In contrast, Yunnan Hanmeng's factory area is silent.Yunnan Hanmeng has two gates, the north and the south. The south gate has the company's logo and name, and the guard booth has only one staff member. The north gate for people to enter and exit is a double movable iron gate. There are more than ten cars parked outside the gate.
reporters saw at the north gate that the company had two office buildings, several factory buildings, and several storage tanks, but few workers came in or out.
A staff member at the North Gate Security Booth came out and told reporters that the factory building in the factory area was built two years ago, but production has not started, and there are people working in the office building.
The reporter contacted Cao Yuangang, secretary of the Board of Directors of Chengzhi Co., Ltd. at the Yunnan Hanmeng Factory located in Guandu Industrial Park, Kunming
. When asked about the progress of the industrial hemp project, Cao Yuangang said, "There is no special progress." Because the factory building has not been fully delivered, formal production has not started.
Cao Yuangang said that in the industrial hemp project, factory construction is not the core thing. The main value of industrial hemp production is reflected in the process extraction. "Our technologies are mature and have been produced and supplied before. At present, the main problem is the factory."
In addition, Yunnan Hanmeng has also developed a mini program, but there are currently no products on the mini program. Sale. The
factory has not been fully delivered, and the industrial hemp has not been officially put into production. So what is the status of industrial hemp cultivation in Yunnan Hanmeng?
According to information disclosed by Chengzhi Shares, the Yunnan Hanmeng Industrial Cannabis Cultivation Demonstration Base is located in Yunji Community, Tangzi Town, Xundian County, Kunming City, Yunnan Province, covering an area of 3,000 acres. The altitude here is 1,900 meters, the average annual temperature is 14.5°C, the average annual precipitation is 1,100 mm, and the average annual sunshine is 2,069.8 hours. It is the most suitable environment for the growth of industrial hemp.
In Yunji Community, Tangzi Town, Xundian County, Kunming City, local villagers told reporters that in 2020, some growers rented land from local villagers to grow industrial hemp, but they only planted it for one year, and they have not grown it since.
The land rental contract provided to reporters by villager Xia Jinpei shows that the company that signed the contract with the villagers was Kunming Shangfu Planting Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Kunming Shangfu). The agreement stipulates that the land lease will be used for industrial hemp cultivation, and the lease term is 3 years.
The land lease contract signed by Xia Jinpei and Kunming Shangfu
Under the guidance of Xia Jinpei, the reporter came to the land where industrial hemp was once grown. There is also a slightly worn signboard in the field that reads "Chengzhi Hanmeng Industrial Hemp Cultivation Demonstration Base." But now, the fields have been planted with corn and tobacco leaves .
Yunnan Hanmeng Industrial Cannabis Cultivation Base Signage
reporter contacted Kunming Shangfu’s legal representative Ma Jackie Chan . He told reporters that the original planned area for planting industrial hemp was 3,000 acres, but the final planting area was only more than 2,700 acres. Ma Chenglong explained that the reason why he only planted it for one year was because the sales situation was not good.
The plot of land originally planted with industrial hemp in the base has been replaced with other crops
In fact, Ma Chenglong signed a planting service contract with Yunnan Hanmeng to grow industrial hemp. He said that the sales market was not good because Yunnan Hanmeng did not purchase it as scheduled. He grows industrial hemp. The industrial hemp grown in 2020 was not acquired until March this year.
Not only that, Ma Chenglong said that Yunnan Hanmeng also lowered the purchase price and failed to pay the price agreed in the contract. "I invested about 1 million, and now I basically can't get it back." When talking about the income from planting, Ma Chenglong said.
From Cooperation to Contradiction
Among the industrial hemp growers, Ma Chenglong's situation is not the worst. There are also growers who planted industrial hemp, but the acquirer refused to buy it, so they had to litigate.
Yunnan Jinyu Agricultural Development Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Jinyu Agriculture), which grows industrial hemp, is engaged in a contract dispute lawsuit with the acquirer, Yunnan Huayun Jinxin Biotechnology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Huayun Jinxin), and is currently awaiting the second trial. Court session.
In November 2019, Shenzhen Chase (SZ000038, stock price 4.11 yuan, market value 2.15 billion yuan), which had not been ST at that time, acquired Yunnan Chengbang Fuji Biotechnology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter) through its wholly-owned subsidiary Qingdao Chase Capital Co., Ltd. (referred to as Chengbang Fuji) 51% stake, the purchase price is 142.8 million yuan. Yunnan Huayun Jinxin Biotechnology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Huayun Jinxin) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Chengbang Fuji. It has industrial hemp mosaic and leaf processing and production and other related facilities, and has obtained the "Yunnan Province Industrial Hemp Processing License" and Cultivation license.
Huayun Jinxin is registered in Binchuan County, Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province.According to Shenzhen Datong's announcement, by June 2021, Shenzhen Datong, through its holding subsidiaries, has obtained an industrial hemp cultivation license with a total planting area of 10,000 acres issued by the relevant departments of Dali Prefecture, and has cooperated with local farmers in Dali Prefecture. Planting business.
Shenzhen Datong has two industrial hemp cultivation partners. One is a local company in Dali Prefecture, Yunnan Haorun Agricultural Development Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Haorun Agriculture), and the other is a Kunming company, Yunnan Jinyu Agricultural Development Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Haorun Agriculture). Hereinafter referred to as Jinyu Agriculture). Weng Junmei, the legal representative of Jinyu Agriculture, told reporters that the company has planted industrial hemp for Huayun Jinxin in Jizushan Town, Binchuan County, Dali Prefecture for two consecutive years starting in 2020, and has signed an agreement with Huayun Jinxin Industrial hemp flower and leaf purchase contract.
According to Weng Junmei, one acre of land can produce about 200 kilograms of flowers and leaves. In 2020, 1,000 acres of industrial hemp were planted, with a yield of about 200 tons; in 2021, 3,000 acres of industrial hemp were planted, with a yield of 600 tons.
"(Huayun Jinxin) purchased our industrial hemp in accordance with the contract in the first year, but refused to purchase it for various reasons in the second year." Weng Junmei said that in 2021, the country will issue a policy that industrial hemp (extraction) cannot be added to cosmetics After the purchase), Huayun Jinxin began to refuse to purchase industrial hemp from Jinyu Agriculture on the grounds of insufficient planting area and wrong planting varieties, and even took them to court.
Huayun Jinxin and Jinyu Agriculture have a relationship of entrustment and cooperation. The cultivation of industrial hemp requires a cultivation license. Huayun Jinxin has a cultivation license. It entrusts Jinyu Agriculture to cultivate industrial hemp and then recovers the industrial hemp from its hands. Jin Yu Agriculture’s qualification for growing industrial hemp is to use Huayun Jinxin’s cultivation license.
"The sales of industrial hemp are unique and can only be sold to processing companies that have signed purchase contracts and cannot be sold to third parties." Weng Junmei said that after Huayun Jinxin refused to acquire them, they chose to destroy these industries under the supervision of the public security department. Cannabis, reducing some storage costs.
In addition to the ongoing lawsuit between Jinyu Agriculture and Huayun Jinxin over a repurchase contract dispute, the reporter also learned from Qixinbao that Huayun Jinxin and Haorun Agriculture are currently involved in a lawsuit related to contract disputes.
The reporter tried to contact Haorun Agriculture by phone, but the caller hung up the phone after learning about the reporter’s request for an interview.
Regarding the dispute between Huayun Jinxin and growers over the purchase contract of industrial hemp, on the afternoon of June 24, the reporter sent an interview letter to Shenzhen Chase. On June 27, Shenzhen Chase responded via email stating that the company's related matters are in litigation and there has been no effective judgment yet. The final result will be subject to the effective judgment of the court.
Silence after the excitement
html On June 20, a reporter from "Daily Economic News" came to Huayun Jinxin in Guangang Village, Jinniu Town, Binchuan County, Dali Prefecture. The iron gate of the company is closed tightly, and the guard box at the gate is unmanned. Looking through the door, there are no staff activities in the factory.Bypassing most of the factory area, you can see the newly built factory buildings. According to nearby villagers, the new factory was probably built before the end of 2021, but it has not been produced since it was completed.
In the Huayun Jinxin factory, the reporter did not see any staff.
The industrial hemp processing plant did not start production, and planting also stopped accordingly. The local village party secretary said that this year he had not seen anyone growing industrial hemp in his village or in surrounding places that he knew of.
Weng Junmei said that after the company's industrial hemp was rejected in 2021, it will naturally not be planted again this year and other crops have been planted.
On the same day, the reporter came to the Anti-Narcotics Brigade of the Public Security Bureau of Binchuan County, Dali Prefecture, to inquire about the application for planting industrial hemp, so as to understand the local situation of growing industrial hemp. A "Guidelines for Units or Individuals to Apply for Industrial Hemp Cultivation, Processing and Transportation Services" provided by a police officer shows that those who want to apply for an industrial hemp cultivation license to engage in industrial cultivation need to submit corresponding materials to the public security agency, including an industrial hemp cultivation application form, Business license, seed supply contract, product sales plan contract, etc.
The above-mentioned police officer has repeatedly reminded people to be cautious when applying to plant industrial hemp. Currently, no one is planting industrial hemp in the entire Binchuan County , and even in the entire Dali Prefecture, there are very few industrial hemp plants.
In addition to Shenzhen Datong, there is also Hanyu Pharmaceutical (SZ300199, stock price 14.88 yuan, market value 13.64 billion yuan) building a planting and processing base in Dali .
In May 2019, Hanyu Pharmaceutical announced that the company and Dali Economic and Technological Development Zone signed a "Strategic Cooperation Agreement". In the next five years, the company and its partners plan to invest 200 million to 500 million yuan in installments to build industrial cannabis cultivation in Dali. and deep processing base, taking the application of industrial hemp extracts in the pharmaceutical field as the research direction, and building a platform of related supporting facilities around the layout of the entire industrial hemp industry chain.
However, in June this year, when an investor consulted on the company’s industrial hemp progress on the listed company’s interactive platform, Hanyu Pharmaceutical responded that it had completed the on-site audit required before applying for the industrial hemp license and submitted the rectification report to The Narcotics Control Bureau will promptly disclose progress in accordance with the requirements of the Information Disclosure Management Measures.
A simple understanding is that the license has not yet been obtained, and without a license, the cultivation and processing of industrial hemp will naturally not proceed.
The reason why marijuana is classified as a drug is mainly because it contains tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) with hallucinogenic effects. In addition to THC, marijuana also contains cannabidiol (CBD), which has no hallucinogenic properties. The wind of industrial hemp is blowing towards CBD.
In the medical field, CBD has the effects of controlling epilepsy, analgesia, anti-anxiety, and controlling Parkinson's disease. In the consumer field, because CBD can help people relax and relieve muscle soreness and spasms , CBD is also a major direction of additives, being added to food, beverages, and skin care products.
Three years ago, as the United States announced that CBD was legalized in 50 states, the stock prices of cannabis-related listed companies in North America generally rose sharply. The craze for industrial hemp has also spread across the ocean. At the beginning of 2019, industrial hemp became one of the strongest concepts in A shares . On January 16 of that year, Shunhao Co., Ltd. (SZ002565, stock price 4.58 yuan, market value 4.86 billion yuan) industrial hemp project application was approved. In just three months since then, the company's stock price has increased nearly five times.
As a result, the market enthusiasm for industrial hemp was quickly ignited. In just two months (January 17th to March 27th of that year), among the 16 Wind industrial hemp index constituent stocks , the one with the least increase exceeded 40%, and 7 companies had an increase of more than 100%.
However, after the prosperity, the market was left with a piece of chicken feathers. Three years later, some companies terminated the project before investing, and some companies made only one-tenth of the investment in , with no substantial progress.
The Wind Industrial Cannabis Concept Index "Debut is the Peak" released on February 22, 2019
Image source: Wind screenshot
Shouxiangu (SH603896, stock price 40.45 yuan, market value 7.98 billion yuan) announced as early as April 2020 that its subsidiary The subsidiary did not obtain an industrial hemp cultivation license, and the company decided to cancel the subsidiary and no longer develop industrial hemp projects. Huaren Pharmaceutical (SZ300110, stock price 3.9 yuan, market value 4.61 billion yuan) announced in July 2020 that it had decided to terminate the industrial hemp project due to the impact of domestic and foreign economic situations and changes in the market environment.
A wholly-owned subsidiary of Guizhou Bailing (SZ002424, stock price 7.69 yuan, market value 10.85 billion yuan) entered into a partnership with Heilongjiang Hanrong Hemp Biotechnology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Hanrong Hemp) and Harbin Academy of Medical Sciences in May 2019 The "Industrial Hemp Strategic Cooperation Agreement" was signed. After the shareholding reform of Hanrong Hemp, it is planned to obtain an industrial hemp cultivation license and extraction and processing license in Heilongjiang Province (Reporter's note: Currently, only Yunnan and Heilongjiang are allowed to grow industrial hemp in the country). However, when responding to investors’ questions on March 21 this year, Guizhou Bailing stated that the above-mentioned projects are only intention framework agreements and do not constitute substantive cooperation. There is currently no progress.
Policies are becoming stricter, and listed companies are struggling to get off
The sudden drop in enthusiasm of listed companies for participating in industrial hemp is closely related to the introduction of relevant regulatory policies.
On May 28, 2021, the State Drug Administration issued an announcement on updating the catalog of prohibited raw materials for cosmetics (No. 74, 2021). Cannabis pome nuts, hemp seed oil, hemp leaf extract, etc. are also on the list of prohibited raw materials. The
announcement pointed out that cosmetics registrants and filers are not allowed to produce or import cosmetics that use prohibited raw materials in the product formulas of the "Catalogue of Prohibited Raw Materials for Cosmetics" and "Catalogue of Banned Plant (Animal) Raw Materials for Cosmetics".
Talking about the impact of the "528 Cosmetics Ban" on the industry in 2021, Yu Hua, deputy secretary-general of the Yunnan Industrial Hemp Industry Association, told the "Daily Economic News" reporter that before the ban, cosmetics were the only open use of industrial hemp in China. In the field of beneficial cannabinoids, the impact of this ban is very large, and can even be said to be "disruptive".
As a result, some companies that have begun to grow industrial hemp and produce and process it have slowed down their progress, and some have directly suspended production.
The aforementioned repurchase contract dispute case between Shenzhen Datong and the growers occurred after the announcement of the above-mentioned ban on adding CBD to cosmetics. Starting from 2021, Yunnan Hanmeng, a subsidiary of Chengzhi Co., Ltd., has no longer planted industrial hemp, and its processing plant has not yet been delivered.
In addition, there are some listed companies whose industrial hemp investments are at a standstill. According to the 2021 annual report of Renhe Pharmaceutical (SZ000650, stock price 6.12 yuan, market value 8.57 billion yuan), the company’s industrial cannabis investment progress is only 8.94%. At the 2021 Annual General Meeting of Shareholders, Jiang Feng, Secretary of the Board of Directors of Renhe Pharmaceutical, told the "Daily Economic News" reporter that the project has not been abandoned at present, but it still needs to wait and see. If the policy becomes stricter, it is not ruled out that the project can be adjusted or adjusted. change.
Cao Yuangang, Secretary of the Board of Directors of Chengzhi Shares, also said in an interview with reporters that national policies do have a practical impact on the company. They have been doing cosmetic research and development before, and they also have some research and development products. The State Food and Drug Administration Regarding the ban on industrial hemp in cosmetics As soon as the announcement came out, the company's research and development in this area stopped.
Cao Yuangang said that regarding industrial hemp, scientific reports show that the THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) in industrial hemp is partially toxic, and there are more than 200 other cannabinoids that are harmless to the human body and are even beneficial. "What we are most concerned about now is the direction of the policy, (to) determine the company's development direction."
reporter learned that in addition to cosmetics, industrial hemp extraction can also be used in the medical field, consumer field, etc. Domestic management of the application of industrial hemp is becoming stricter, which has a greater impact on the production and processing of industrial hemp.
Regarding the current suspension of operations and production of listed companies investing in industrial hemp in Yunnan, Yu Hua said that from the perspective of the entire industrial hemp industry chain, companies need to continuously improve their competitiveness and increase investment, but they must have the ability to self-generate in the process. to support. The biggest problem at present is that enterprises have not yet developed this self-generating ability, resulting in a dilemma.
Looking forward to the development prospects of industrial hemp, Yu Hua said: "The application scenarios of beneficial cannabinoids in industrial hemp are very broad. But the biggest obstacle now is that the basic research on the beneficial cannabinoids in industrial hemp is not comprehensive, in-depth and thorough enough. "
Yu Hua said that they very much hope that the country can lead basic research on beneficial cannabinoids in industrial hemp. "As long as the basic research can be thoroughly conducted and its pharmacological and toxicological properties are understood, the market can be opened with peace of mind, and the potential huge market scale of industrial hemp can be released."
And for some Companies that have placed their production and processing bases abroad from the beginning will be relatively less affected. Recently, some companies have announced the mass production of industrial hemp.
html On June 28, Rheinland Biotechnology (SZ002166, stock price 13.05 yuan, market value 7.38 billion yuan) announced that its U.S. industrial hemp extraction and application engineering construction project has passed the acceptance and review of the Indiana state government and third parties, and has been carried out on a large scale. Chemical input production, officially entered the mass production stage.It is reported that the total investment in the project is expected to reach approximately US$80 million.Rheinland Biotechnology stated that the formal mass production of the industrial hemp project is expected to play a positive role in improving the company's future operating performance.
reporters noticed that in recent years, overseas regulatory policies are being pushed in a direction that is conducive to the development of the industrial hemp industry. However, the implementation time and cycle of specific policies for the application of industrial hemp extract and other products in food and other fields in various countries and regions are still unclear. unclear.
In addition, Yu Hua also said that previously, industrial hemp in Yunnan was mainly exported as raw material extracts overseas. With the expansion of overseas planting scale and the promotion of their high-cannabinoid content varieties, the raw materials exported by Yunnan will no longer have a price advantage in the international market. At the same time, affected by the epidemic and international political and economic fluctuations, global demand for the import of beneficial cannabinoids from Yunnan has decreased, which is also one of the reasons for the reduction of industrial hemp cultivation.
(Cover picture source: Photo by Daily Economic News reporter Yu Yaofeng)
Daily Economic News
Daily Economic News
