Chlorothalonil Market Upgrading   

Chlorothalonil is a highly effective, very safe broad-spectrum fungicide. It was developed by Diamond Alkali of the United States in 1963 and introduced into China in the 1970s. Chlorothalonil can be used to control diseases in various crops such as rice, wheat, vegetables, fruit trees, peanuts, tea leaves, rubber trees, forests and golf course grasses. It also has applications in industrial sectors such as the mildew prevention for leather and coatings.
   The earliest large-scale production of chlorothalonil in the world was made by enterprises of the United States and Japan. Hunan Nantian Industry Co Ltd (former Hunan Pesticide Plant) and Changsha Chemical Industry Research Institute jointly developed their chlorothalonil production technology in the early 1970s and constructed a 40 t/a unit in 1982. As of July 2010 China had 12 domestic chlorothalonil active ingredient producers including Jiangsu Xinhe Agrochemical Co Ltd, Jiangsu Xinyi Limin Chemical Co Ltd, Shandong Dacheng Pesticide Co Ltd, Jiangyin Suli Fine Chemical Co Ltd, Hubei Huangmei Xiaochi Chemical Co Ltd, Hunan Nantian Industry Co Ltd and Yunnan Chemical Plant, and four foreign-funded producers. Six producers in China have a capacity of over 1 000 t/a each and the country's total capacity exceeds 10 000 t/a. The capacity of Jiangsu Xinhe Agrochemical Co Ltd and Jiangyin Suli Fine Chemical Co Ltd is the biggest, both being more than 3 000 t/a. China has more than 100 enterprises registered for the processing of chlorothalonil formulations. Of these, over 30 are registered for chlorothalonil fumigants, over 20 for 75% chlorothalonil wettable powders, over 80 for 40%-50% chlorothalonil suspension concentrate and over 50 for 40% aqueous suspension concentrate. As it is popular as a fungicide for both industrial and agricultural uses, the consumption of chlorothalonil aqueous suspension concentrate is very big in China. Moreover, quite a few enterprises also have registered for making dusts, oil soluble concentrate and compounding formulations.
   China's capacity to make chlorothalonil active ingredient has expanded constantly in recent years and the actual annual output has stayed between 3 000 tons and 4 000 tons for several consecutive years. The export volume has increased drastically. More than 90% of chlorothalonil active ingredient and partial chlorothalonil wettable powders and suspensions made in China are exported. The active ingredient volume that is retained in China for the processing of formulations is around 300 tons a year. As most producers mainly pursue export and neglect domestic sales, the export price has dropped in fierce competition from RMB60 000 per ton in 2000 to RMB40 000 per ton today. The consumption of chlorothalonil in vegetable farming increases constantly in China. The market demand for chlorothalonil formulations in China has increased to 2 000-3 000 tons a year, led by fumigants and following wettable powders, dusts and oil soluble concentrate. Most of them are used in vegetable greenhouses. Owing to the low price, the demand for 10% chlorothalonil fumigant is going up each year. As chlorothalonil is an excellent fungicide with a broad spectrum, in advanced countries, beyond its extensive use in non-grain crops, it is also used in rice, wheat and forests and also to prevent mildew in leather and coatings and combat bacteria on golf courses. These factors have promoted the export of China-made chlorothalonil. The value of chlorothalonil exported to the United States increased by US$4.00 million in 2008. In the first quarter of 2009, with the shadow of the global financial crisis, the market for other pesticides was extremely slack, but the amount of chlorothalonil exported by China grew 56.88% over the prior-year period and the average export price was 27.39% higher. Meanwhile, the output of chlorothalonil increased steadily. Jiangsu province, China's biggest production region, produced 5 721.17 tons of chlorothalonil formulations in the third quarter of 2009, an increase of 48% compared with the output of 3 873.70 tons in the same period of 2008. Both the export volume and the domestic demand for chlorothalonil in China have grown in recent years.
   Reportedly, chlorothalonil held the fifth place in the global sales of fungicides in 2007, and the sales value was US$240 million. China's export value of chlorothalonil exceeded US$10 million in recent years, 8% of the global sales value. Export destinations include North America, South America, South Africa, Southeast Asia and some European countries, which are all advanced countries and regions. The quality of China-made chlorothalonil fully meets the requirements of importers in these countries and regions. Export to these countries and regions can therefore be sustained and stable. The export to developing countries and regions should become a future focus for China's chlorothalonil producers. Selling chlorothalonil to developing countries and regions at a price of RMB40 000 per ton can help achieve a stable export growth. In China, chlorothalonil is already extensively used in field and garden crops such as tobaccos, tea leaves, peanuts, potatoes, tomatoes, celeries, cucumbers, green peppers, melons, strawberries, grapes and bananas. It plays an indelible role in the control of fungus diseases in crops. According to calculations, China's demand for chlorothalonil formulations is 2 000-3 000 tons a year. The actual consumption is less, and the market dissemination has not yet fully unfolded.
   Compared with other fungicides with similar properties such as mancozeb, triadimefon and carbendazim, the application cost of chlorothalonil per unit of land area is high. When chlorothalonil is blended with metalaxyl, fosetyl-aluminum, thiophanate-methyl or mancozeb, the user cost can be reduced; moreover, the disease control effectiveness is also enhanced. As chlorothalonil is stable when exposed to alkali/acid or ultraviolet radiation, it can be compounded with antibacterial fungicides with poor acid/alkali resistance such as kasugamycin and polyoxin.
   When chlorothalonil is used in coatings, interior and exterior walls coated will have no mildew even if exposed to moisture for many years. If ships are coated with chlorothalonil added paints, they will have no moss even if submerged in water for long years. Wood and bamboo plates impregnated in chlorothalonil will have no mildew deterioration.