Glyphosate China Monthly Report

As of Sept. 2014, the glyphosate industry runs normally in China. The average ex-works price of glyphosate technical witnesses a YoY decrease of 15% from Jan. 2014 to Sept. 2014 and that of glyphosate formulations also have similar decrease rate. Compared with the period of Jan. 2013 to Sept. 2013, China’s glyphosate market is relatively weak in 2014, but in general, the glyphosate industry is profitable. It is predicted that the gross profit margin of glyphosate products can maintain at 15%-25%. In June 2014, the Ministry of Environmental Protection of the People’s Republic of China released the name list of the four companies that passed the environmental protection verification (EPV). It seems that to pass the EPV or not will not influent the glyphosate company in short term. That’s because the EPV have no connection with preferential policies and administrative penalties. Still, glyphosate companies hold prudent attitude towards EPV. It is predicted that about 20 glyphosate companies will take part in the second batch of EPV. 

So far, glyphosate companies have different responses to the sluggish improvement of the glyphosate market. Some manufacturers have decided to shut down. In Sept. 2014, Lier Chemical Co., Ltd. (Lier Chemical) indicated that its subsidiary Jiangsu Kuaida Agrochemical Co., Ltd. (Jiangsu Kuaida) has a 10,000 t/a glyphosate technical production line. However, because its original development plan is stymied by the market variations, Jiangsu Kuaida's glyphosate technical has not yet been put into production. On the other hand, other glyphosate companies choose to implement their original new glyphosate projects. Sichuan Hebang Co., Ltd. (Sichuan Hebang) claims that its 50,000 t/a glyphosate project has been under implementation as planned and it is scheduled to be finished later this year. Sichuan Hebang discloses that its glyphosate products will not be put into production until the second half of this year and it will also try to strive for balance between production and marketing.  

Generally   speaking, the glyphosate market is in an unsatisfactory phase which is likely to go on for a while. It is estimated that this is mainly because the demand from South America is below expectations and most foreign purchasers hold wait-and-see attitude. Some industry insiders claim that support from the raw materials market is feeble now; if demand from South America keeps declining, the glyphosate market will be most likely to stay stable or even undergo a slight slowdown.

Note: 1. All tables and figures in this issue are calculated by the same RMB/USD exchange rate (1USD=6.1647RMB); 2. Nuances in some data are mainly caused by rounding principle.