Herbicides China Monthly Report(Herbicides China Monthly Report 202502)

In February, the prices of most products remained stable. The foreign trade market demand warmed up, while the domestic market was waiting for spring ploughing demand. The prices of various herbicide products were mainly stable, with narrow fluctuations, and the average ex-works price of the herbicide TC dropped by 0.38% MoM. The herbicide market trend in February showed divergence, with raw material prices experiencing short-term fluctuations and a long-term trend towards stability; the prices of chlor-alkali industry products fluctuated upwards, while most organic chemical raw material prices fell.

Company dynamics: On 10 February, 2025, EI reports for Jiangsu Lianhua's two herbicide intermediates production projects, which includes the 150 t/a BF355 and 300 t/a MX359 production project as well as the 500 t/a POI production project, were approved by the Yancheng Municipal Ecology and Environment Bureau. On 17 February, 2025, Jiangxi Hetian's EI report for the 2,000 t/a tebuthiuron TC technological renovation project was accepted. The project aims to upgrade tebuthiuron production process while keeping the production capacity unchanged. On 21 February, 2025, Sichuan Heben Crop Protection Co., Ltd.'s EI report for the 1,700 t/a herbicide TCs (including 800 t/a nicosulfuron, 500 t/a pyriproxyfen, 300 t/a indoxacarb, and 100 t/a imazalil) was publicised.

Policy: On 26 January, 2025, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment of the People's Republic of China officially released the national ecological environment standard document Standard for the Determination of 17 Heterocyclic Pesticides in Water Quality by High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HJ 1395-2024), drafted by the Hunan Province Ecological Environment Monitoring Center. The Standard is applicable to the determination of 17 heterocyclic pesticides, including 2-hydroxyatrazine, deisopropylatrazine, dealkylatazine, cyanazine, in surface water, groundwater, domestic sewage, industrial wastewater, and seawater.

Registration: On 21 January, 138 herbicides will be approved for pesticide product registration. Glufosinate-P leads in the number of product registrations, with 18 single agent applications and one mixed formulation applications.