Summary:In Q1 2025 , the amino acid industry showed a trend of adjustment in both supply and demand. Affected by international trade frictions, increased concentration of production capacity and corporate strategic layout, import and export volumes fluctuated significantly year-on-year, prices weakened steadily, and leading companies strengthened their market position through production expansion, mergers and acquisitions, and technological upgrades.
1. Import and export situation
1. Export volume diverged year-on-year
- Threonine: The export volume in January-February 2025 is 110,000 tons, a year-on-year decrease of 5.9%. Affected by the EU anti-dumping investigation, exports to the EU are blocked and some orders are transferred to other regions.
- Lysine: Exports in January and February were 167,000 tons, down 3.5% year-on-year. In 2024, the EU will impose a temporary anti-dumping duty (58.3%-84.8%) on Chinese lysine, and combined with Brazil's anti-dumping investigation, the export pressure will increase.
- Tryptophan: Import volume in January-February was 4,976 tons, up 19.8% year-on-year, indicating an increase in domestic demand for high-end amino acids.
2. Regional market adjustments
- The EU accounts for 29.32% of China's lysine exports. Anti-dumping has led to a decrease in export orders, and companies have turned to the Southeast Asian and South American markets.
- Due to strong demand from the EU, threonine exports increased by 11.86% year-on-year in the third quarter of 2024, but the growth rate slowed down in 2025 due to policy influences.
3. Price Changes
1)Mainstream products are stable but tend to weaken
- Threonine: The price in April 2025 is 9.7-10.2 yuan/kg, down about 10% from the same period in 2024, mainly due to overcapacity and export obstruction.
- Lysine: 98% lysine is quoted at 8.2-8.7 yuan/kg, and 70% lysine is quoted at 5.3-5.7 yuan/kg, a year-on-year decrease of more than 15%. Anti-dumping tariffs have pushed up export costs and suppressed prices.
- Methionine: The price is quoted at 21.6-22.4 yuan/kg. Supported by the maintenance plans of companies such as Xinhecheng and Ningxia Ziguang, the price remains stable.
2)High-end product callback
- Tryptophan price is 45-47 Yuan/kg, down 1.5 Yuan/kg from the previous month, due to the increase in imports and the release of domestic production capacity.
- Due to the EU anti-dumping expectations, the price of valine rebounded in the short term to 15.8 yuan/kg, up 14.49% month-on-month, but it still faces oversupply pressure in the long term.
3) Enterprise News
1. Capacity expansion and technology upgrade
- Meihua Bio: It will acquire the amino acid assets of Japan's Kyowa Hakko in 2024, add human milk oligosaccharide business, and plans to put a 600,000-ton lysine project into production in 2025.
- Wuxi Jinghai: The fundraising project "High-end and high value-added amino acid industrialization construction" is expected to be put into production in July 2025, adding 2,224 tons of production capacity, with a focus on the EU and Japanese pharmaceutical markets.
- Hengtong Group: Invested RMB 467 million to build a small-variety amino acid base, adding 11,800 tons/year of production capacity for tryptophan, arginine, etc.
4. Addressing trade barriers
- Due to EU anti-dumping measures, Meihua Biotechnology reduced its lysine production capacity by 100,000 tons, or 98%, and switched to producing a variety of amino acids.
- Wanlilida suspended lysine sales in the EU and turned to other regional markets.
5. Domestic market growth
- Bafeng Pharmaceutical: The output value in January 2025 was 17.2 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 10%. The market share of the leading products was 17%, and the annual revenue was planned to exceed 200 million yuan.
- Xinghu Technology: Through the acquisition of Yippin Bio, the net profit in the first three quarters of 2024 was 677 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 38.38%.
More information can be found at CCM Amino acid China Monthly Report.
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