Export of Antipyretic and Analgesic APIs Down 24.76% in 2011   

China exported 100.8 thousand tons of antipyretic and analgesic APIs (active pharmaceutical ingredients) in 2011, a year-on-year decrease of 24.76%. The export value of antipyretic and analgesic APIs was US$454 million, down 47.66%. The average export price was US$4.51/kg, a drop of 30.43%.

Exports to the traditional markets down greatly and exports to the emerging markets lost popularity

In 2011, China exported its antipyretic and analgesic APIs to 126 countries and regions. Asia, Europe and North America were still the major export markets for China's antipyretic and analgesic APIs and the total export value to the three regions accounted for 77.65% of the total. Compared with 2010, China's export to the three regions showed an apparent trend of reduction. China's export value to Asia fell by 44.26%, among which the export value to India dropped by 52.21%. The export value of China's exports to the European Union (EU) and the United States decreased by 58.86% and 58.83%, respectively. China's export to emerging markets like Africa and Latin America also fell, by over 30%.

Production enterprises were still the major exporters

China had 610 exporters of antipyretic and analgesic APIs in 2011, a year on year decrease of 42.67%. Among the top 20, 17 were production enterprises and their total export value accounted for 74.53% of the total, and the other three were foreign-trade companies with a total export value accounting for 3.54%, reflecting the production enterprises' advantages in product management.
   Economically developed areas such as Shandong, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang provinces were the main sources of exports. The top five were Shandong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Hebei and Hubei, and their total export value accounted for 87.99% of the total. These figures show that regional concentration of antipyretic and analgesic products is higher than typical industrial products.

Contrasting export figures of the four major varieties

In 2011, the export of paracetamol from China was drastically reduced and the export value to Africa fell by 26.46% year-on-year. The export value to two major ASEAN countries, Thailand and Vietnam dropped by 22.49% and 32.67%, respectively compared with 2010. China's export to Brazil's emerging market also was significantly reduced, falling over 20%. In recent years, China's paracetamol export market has suffered from disorderly competition, including price wars.
   China's export of ibuprofen to major traditional markets reduced notably in 2011. The export value of ibuprofen in China to the EU and India dropped by 9.44% and 22.89%, respectively, compared with 2010. China's export price of ibuprofen has no significant advantage in major export markets. The profit margin of production enterprises is therefore further narrowed and the development potential of enterprises is affected.
   Unlike paracetamol and ibuprofen, analgin and aspirin showed sound export growth in 2011. The export value and the average export price of analgin from China rose by 10.26% and 10.26% year-on-year, respectively. China's export value and average export price of aspirin climbed by 16.44% and 7.31%, respectively compared with 2010. Emerging markets became a highlight. China's export value of analgin to Africa and Latin America increased by 25.17% and 29.59% year on year, respectively. The value of aspirin exported from China to Africa and Latin America increased by 2.67% and 76.25%, respectively, compared with 2010. The main reasons for the growth include brisk demand in mainstream markets, sound development of the Latin America market as well as domestic enterprises' carefully nurture of the emerging market.
    Most of the output of China's major antipyretic and analgesic API products is exported, and manufacturers' dependence on export is very high. Many producers use outdated processes and make low grade products, so it is difficult for them to enter the high end of the market. In the absence of product advantages, enterprises must rely on low prices to win more market share. All these problems inhibit the development of the sector.
   The reason is closely related to the industrial structure. Domestic producers have constantly expanded production scale for many years. However, little progress is apparent in many other aspects such as technical advantages and quality improvement. The key for completely solving the problems in the sector is to undertake R&D for products with high technical value, to eliminate varieties whose product lifecycle is largely finished, to move toward high-end and special APIs, to nurture well-known brands and to optimize the industrial structure. Only in this way can China's antipyretic and analgesic API products completely overcome the present slack demand.