International grain prices suddenly plunged, and domestic grain prices in Austria were hit as well, following them down in a crash.
Grain prices in Austria itself had always been lower than those on the international market. This time, they had finally come into line with the world.
It was not only grain prices that were falling; the prices of other agricultural products were dropping as well. The capitalists were already doing their best to prop up the market, but before the enormous supply, their efforts were futile.
As the international grain market convulsed, huge quantities of raw grain were dumped onto the market, dealing the finished grain export trade a blow as well.
Taking flour exports as an example, prices had not only fallen 9 percent from the same period last year, but total exports had also shrunk by 4 percent.
This was the aftereffect of the Vienna Government dumping old grain on the United Kingdom. Having obtained cheap raw materials, British capitalists had worked hard to produce more, squeezing into markets that had once belonged to others.
There was no way around it. Flour could not be stored for long periods. To disrupt grain trade between the United Kingdom and Russia, raw grain had to be used as the weapon of impact.
With prices falling and exports contracting, enterprises engaged in agricultural exports were having a hard time—especially processing industries with little technological content.
Austria's agricultural processing industry had also formed an enormous industrial chain. It employed more than three million industrial workers, with over eight hundred thousand working in flour-processing enterprises alone.
Behind them stood tens of millions of farmers. A blow to the grain-processing industry would inevitably affect the purchase of newly harvested grain.
In Vienna Palace, Franz put down the documents in his hand and lifted