SHANGHAI – China’s 12th Five Year Plan has a long list of recommendations for the chemical industry, including:
1) Mejor desarrollo de la marca al concentrarse en formulaciones de calidad que generan mejores precios
2) Consolidación para crear empresas más fuertes y competitivas en el escenario global
3) Mejoras de las instalaciones que generan menos contaminación
4) Avances tecnológicos que se centran en sustancias activas con menor toxicidad.
5) Marketing capabilities that matches the country’s output capacity
Al escuchar a los líderes de la industria aquí en la Conferencia CAC 2012 en Shanghai, queda claro que China se está posicionando para ser más competitiva en los mercados de exportación con sus propias marcas, infraestructura de marketing y optimización de formulación.
For the first time, formulated products outpaced technical exports from China in 2011. More than 750,000 tons of finished crop protection products were sold in 2011, according to Dr. Ye Guibiao, director of ICAMA, the Institute for the Control of Agrochemicals for the Ministry of Agriculture. By comparison, China exported about 670,000 tons of technical grade products, which formerly was the industry’s staple moneymaker due to low labor costs, lenient environmental requirements and readily accessible raw materials.
As the price for raw materials and labor has grown, Chinese producers are increasingly turning to finished products to supplement their portfolios. However, technical grade products still constitute almost two-thirds of the country’s export revenue, partly due to stronger glyphosate prices in 2011.
“Value in technical grade is still very high, but volume growth in formulated products signals a clear trend for the optimization of our export structure, which is a good trend,” Ye told a near-capacity crowd yesterday during the opening day of the conference.
China’s overall exports rose 26% in 2011 compared to 2010, and products reached a record 181 countries, Ye said.
“If we want to upgrade our industry, we need to create overcapacity for marketing, and if we work on it, then we will be able to create better pricing, which has become homogenous because of too much competition by low-value producers,” he said. “We must protect our domestic enterprises by promoting our own products.”
Ye continuó diciendo que las exportaciones de grado técnico continuarán siendo un motor importante para la economía de exportación china, especialmente con la mayor adopción de la biotecnología y la estabilidad relativa de los precios de los herbicidas no selectivos.
In terms of imports, about 80% of China’s imports are formulated products, primarily fungicides, further necessitating the diversification of Chinese product portfolios and formulation optimization.