Paracetamol Export Increased

The export of paracetamol in China maintained a stable growth in 2005. The export amount reached 39.8 thousand tons, an increase of 21.4% over 2004 and the export value was US$130 million, an increase of 48.9% and accounting for 1.64% of the export value of chemical bulk drugs. Due to the high production cost caused by the price rise of raw materials, the export price had small margin fluctuations at a high level. The average export price in 2005 was US$3.27 per kg, an increase of 22.6% over 2004.

   Raw materials for the paracetamol production from benzene to p-nitrochlorobenzene and finally to p-aminophenol can all be produced by China itself and an industrial chain with balanced supply has been formed. The export of paracetamol before 2003 was basically made in the form of general trade. Since 2004, however, with the worldwide price rise of raw materials caused by the supply deficit of oil products, China has gradually lost its price advantage in raw materials and some companies have started to import raw materials from abroad to make the production and then export their products in the form of processing imported materials trade. The amount of paracetamol exported by China in the form of general trade accounted for 73.4% of the total in 2005, a drop of nearly 14 percentage points from 2004. The amount exported in the form of processing imported materials trade accounted for 26.7% of the total, an increase of nearly 14 percentage points over 2004.

    In the export market, the amount of paracetamol exported to India increased drastically in 2005 and the export value was US$21.355 million, an increase of 227.6% over 2004 and accounting for 16.4% of the total export value. India has overtaken Indonesia and become the largest export destination of paracetamol. The export price in China is however already close to the export price in India. Besides, China exports great quantities of p-aminophenol to India at a low price and has promoted the development of the paracetamol sector in that country. India also has advantages in registration and technology. It imports paracetamol from China, conducts in-depth processing and then exports processed products to the international high-end market. Signs show that the rapid emergence of the paracetamol sector in India has already posed a strong competition pressure on China.

    The export value of paracetamol exported to Indonesia was US$13.976 million in 2005, an increase of 42.3% over 2004. Major export companies included Changshu Huagang Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., Anqiu Lu'an Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. and Zhejiang Conler Pharmaceutical Corporation. The export value in these 3 companies accounted for 73% of the total export value of paracetamol exported to Indonesia.

    Besides, in the top 10 export markets of paracetamol, the amount exported to Britain, Vietnam and France increased rapidly and the average export price to the United States, Ireland, Britain and France was relatively high.