The hard edge to softs

THE ALCHEMIST

Friends, there is song in the Welsh valleys this moon. The nation has reason to celebrate. The value of Welsh exports (derived largely so far from Catherine Zeta-Jones, the other Jones, and Charlotte Church) is about to soar. The hill farmers are set to sign a deal to supply lamb to China.

In terms of North-South trade, it does not get much better than this, unless you are selling something to the several billion Chinese they must use every day, rather than once a week. Meat consumption rises with urbanisation and general prosperity, and China likes the whiff of Welsh lamb. New Zealand might be a thousand miles closer, but there is no accounting for taste. It is a coup for the valleys. Emerging markets used to be simply a beer-and-cement play. Sales of those commodities could always be counted on, even if both were shamelessly diluted by the end users. But increasingly ...