Chinese Agchem Losses Up Sharply in First-Half 2015
Data from China’s National Bureau of Statistics shows that in the first half of 2015, the country’s agrochemical industry’s revenue was RMB154.783 billion, up 7.2% year on year; the total profit was RMB10.787 billion, up 5.7% year on year, according to the China Crop Protection Industry Association. The total profit of chemical pesticides grew 4% year on year, while that of biochemical and microbial pesticides grew 24% year on year, sharply higher than chemical pesticides.
However, despite strong growth in overall profit in the first half, the number of companies recording losses grew 11.3% year on year, with losses totaling RMB588 million, up 145.6% from a year ago. The percentage of companies posting losses increased by 1.1 percentage point year on year. The number of loss-making companies, the total loss and the percentage of technical manufacturers posting losses all increased significantly year on year, while those of biochemical and microbial pesticide manufacturers all decreased relatively.