Annual export growth is expected to exceed 20%
According to news from the Chinese Chamber of Commerce for the Import and Export of Medicines and Health Products last week, according to the latest statistics from the Customs, chemical raw materials continued to maintain its growth momentum in the first quarter of the year, and both export volume and prices were operating at high levels. It is expected that the annual increase in the amount of exports will exceed 20%.
From the statistics of customs, the first quarter of this year, the foreign trade of chemical raw materials showed five significant characteristics. First, the general trade ratio is significant, and the processing price of imported materials is high. The proportion of general trade has been as high as 79.47%, but the average price of processing and assembly trade is about 5 times that of general trade. Second, the distribution of traditional export markets has not changed, and export growth has generally been larger. The three major markets in Asia, Europe and North America accounted for 88.9% of the total market of China's export API. From January to March, China's raw material medicines rose in volume and price in the three major markets, and the export value increased by more than 40%. In addition, China’s exports to Iraq, Tajikistan, and Latvia increased significantly, reflecting the positive results achieved in the diversification of the API market. Third, local enterprises have taken the lead in exporting, and foreign-funded enterprises have become dominant. In the first quarter, a total of 5,015 companies exported chemical raw materials to the international market, and Zhejiang Xinhecheng Co., Ltd. and other five companies ranked among the top 5 exporters, and the exports from these five companies accounted for the total amount of raw material medicine exports. The proportion is more than 1%, and the export growth rate is between 37% and 196%. Fourth, market supply and demand expectations are tight, and export prices have risen sharply. Due to concerns about the implementation of new environmental discharge standards for pharmaceutical companies this year and concerns about Beijing's hosting of the Olympic Games' production restrictions on high-polluting enterprises in surrounding areas, the industry generally believes that the market supply of APIs will be tight this year, coupled with the production of various factors. The increase in cost has driven the export price of APIs to go up all the way in the first quarter and has seen a significant increase. Therefore, although the export volume of some products and markets has decreased, the export volume has increased in different degrees, and the price increase factor is prominent. Fifth, the degree of industrial concentration is high, and the advantages of the coastal provinces are obvious. The provinces that rank among the top three exporters are Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Shandong. The raw material medicines in the three provinces account for 53% of the country’s total exports.
According to analysis by the Medical Insurance Association, the import and export of chemical raw materials will be greatly affected by the unfavorable factors such as the appreciation of the renminbi, the increase in environmental pressure, the increase in raw material prices, and the increase in labor costs. However, due to the substantial increase in the overall cost, the accelerated development of specialty APIs will keep export prices high and make up for the loss of exports that may decrease or increase, and the growth in export value is expected to exceed 20%.