Fungicide China News Sample - Published by CCM International Ltd

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Fungicides China News

Vol.2 Issue 6.2009

Fungicides China News Vol.2 Issue 6

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Content

Fungicides China News Vol.2 Issue 6, 10 June 2009

■ Overview �� 1China’s fungicides with self-dominated intellectual property right (I) ..............................................................1

■ Supply and Demand ��2Large demand boosts difenoconazole market ...................................................................................................2Foreign procurement boosts captan & folpet market ........................................................................................3Isoprothiolane sales robust ................................................................................................................................4Hymexazol prosperity in April ...........................................................................................................................4

■ Price updates ��5Monthly price of key raw materials in Jun. 2009 ..............................................................................................5Monthly factory price of main fungicides in Jun. 2009 ....................................................................................6Monthly Shanghai port price and FOB Shanghai of main fungicides in Jun. 2009 .........................................6Monthly market price of main crops in Jun. 2009 ............................................................................................ 7

■ Pricing �� 7Most fungicide prices continue downtrend in early June ................................................................................. 7Jiangsu Chengyang to build 200t/a cyproconazole ..........................................................................................8

■ Company Dynamics ��8Shanghai carried out a new provision in 1 June ................................................................................................8Shouguang ShuangXing to build 1,000t/a tebuconazole ..................................................................................9Jiangsu Taicang to build another 300t/a benomyl technical ......................................................................... 10Jiangsu Lanfeng’s thiophanate-methyl sees robust demand ..........................................................................11

■ Raw Material, Intermediates and Additives �� 12JZPC building 100,000t/a m-xylene ............................................................................................................... 12

■ Disease �� 13Potato late blight to prevail in China ............................................................................................................... 13Serious wheat stripe rust and powdery mildew in Henan ............................................................................... 14

■ Registration �� 15Fungicide registration in May 2009 .................................................................................................................15Metalaxyl mixed formulation registration soars in China ............................................................................... 16

■ Policy �� 17Shandong to boost 6 fungicide projects ............................................................................................................17

■ News in brief �� 18Guangdong enters peak season of rice diseases .............................................................................................. 18Registration situation of flutriafol technical in China ..................................................................................... 18Wheat leaf rust outbreak in Henan ................................................................................................................. 18Jiangsu Limin’s 100t/a difenoconazole project to launch in July ................................................................... 19


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Key companies covered in this issue

Welcome to the June issue of Fungicides China News, published by CCM International, a professional consulting company which has been extensively and intently focusing on dynamics of China’s fungicides industry. This newsletter has covered fungicide market overview, supply & demand, price update, company dynamics, policies, registrations, etc.

China’s fungicide industry has witnessed fast development in recent years, especially in 2008, with output growth of 43.1%, to 196,000 tonnes from 137,000 tonnes in 2007. Meanwhile, the international trade has grown largely.

This issue covers overview of Chinese fungicides with self-dominated intellectual property right, supply & demand of difenoconazole, captan and folpet, isoprothiolane, hymexazol, dynamics of Jiangsu Chengyang, Shouguang Shuangxing, Jiangsu Taicang and Jiangsu Lanfeng, registration and price situation of popular fungicides, disease forecast on potato and wheat, etc.

During 2009 and beyond we will cover a wide variety of topics relevant to China’s fungicides market, including market/consumption dynamics, related policies/legislations, disease dynamics, fungicide production situation, international cooperation, new products, etc.

If there are specific topics you would like to see us cover or would like to investigate any of the subjects covered in more detail, please contact us - CCM International.

Headlines of FungicidesChina News 0906

China has developed 14 fungicides with self-dominated intellectual property right, and commercially produced most.

Owing to large demand both at home and abroad, difenoconazole technical supply is very tight in May 2009.

Some foreign producers have suspended production of captan and folpet technical, which will boost production and export of these two export-oriented fungicides in China.

With the coming of peak season for rice blast control, isoprothiolane production and sales have been robust.

Hymexazol has enjoyed a promising market since April 2009, which has boosted stable production in domestic market.

Price of most popular fungicides continues to decrease in early June, some even reaching the lowest level in recent years.

Jiangsu Chengyang is registering 95% cyproconazole technical and planning to build a 200t/a cyproconazole technical production line in its new plant located in Nanjing.

Shouguang Shuangxing is to launch a 1,000t/a tebuconazole technical production line in the end of 2009

Jiangsu Taicang plans to build another 300t/a benomyl technical production line in its new plant located in Rugao County, thus expanding its total benomyl capacity to 900t/a.

Jiangsu Lanfeng, the largest thiophanate-methyl producer with capacity of 4,500~5,000t/a in China, is embracing robust demand at home and abroad.

Jiangsu Zhongxin Petrochemical Company now is building a 100,000t/a m-xylene production line.

Potato late blight has occurred severely in Chongqing and Sichuan by mid May 2009, with stricken area increasing by 87.7% and 37.0% respectively over the same period of last year

Wheat stripe rust and powdery mildew, which occurred more severely in 2009 with large stricken areas, has promoted a remarkable demand growth for triazole fungicides.

Chinese fungicide registrations in May 2009 had a great decrease compared with April. Only 12 fungicide technical were registered.

The registration for Metalaxyl mixed formulations has soared in 2008 and 2009, compared with almost no technical or single formulation registration in the past ten years.

Shandong releases guiding opinions on local pesticide industry and plans to boost 6 fungicide projects.


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China’s fungicides with self-dominated intellectual property right (I)

■ Overview

China has developed 14 fungicides with self-dominated intellectual

property right, all of which were registered in the Institute for the Control of Agrochemicals, Ministry of Agriculture (ICAMA), and most of them have been commercially produced by domestic companies.

In this issue, CCM would like to introduce 4 of these fungicides, developed by Shenyang Research Institute of Chemical Industry (SYRICI).

Flumorph

Flumorph, with CAS name of 4-[3-(3,4-dimethoxyphenyl)-3-(4-fluoro-phenyl)-1-oxo-2-propenyl]morpholine, is the first fungicide with self-dominated intellectual property right in China, developed by Liu Changling of SYRICI in 1994.

FIGURE 1: Structure formula of flumorph

Source: SYRICI

Flumorph has been granted patents both in China and the U.S. Commercial production of this fungicide started in 1999, using catechol as starting raw material. It is mainly used to control Peronospora and Phytophthora diseases, such as downy mildew on cucumber, cabbage and grape, phytophthora blight on pepper and tomato, etc., with application dosage of 150g(a.i.)/ha.

Enestroburin (SYP-Z071)

Enestroburin, with test number of SYP-Z071, is a strobilurin fungicide with broad spectrum and long-lasting preventive and curative activity, developed by SYRICI and granted Chinese patent.

FIGURE 2: Structure formula of SYP-Z071

Source: SYRICI

SYRICI has completed technological upgrade of SYP-Z071 by launching a new production line with enestroburin technical capacity of 10t/a in late 2008. SYRICI can also produce SYP-Z071 formulation: 25% SYP-Z071 EC, with capacity of 40t/a.

25% SYP-Z071 EC has better control effect on cucumber downy mildew than some traditional fungicides such as mancozeb WP, with application dosage of 100~200g(i.a.)/ha.. And compared with isoprothiolane, 25% SYP-Z071 EC has lower risk for fungicide resistance of rice blast.

SYP-Z048

SYP-Z048, a new pyridine oxazoline fungicide with novel structure (FIGURE 3) and unique action mechanism, has good control effect on crop diseases induced by ascomycetes, basidiomycetes and deuteromycetes, such as botrytis cinerea on tomato and cucumber.

FIGURE 3: Structural formula of SYP-Z048

Source: SYRICI

SYP-Z048, with broad-spectrum and self-dominated intellectual property right, is highly effective in controlling various crop diseases, such as cucumber scab, cotton fusarium wilt, wheat scab, grape brown spot and botrytis cinerea.

SYP-Z048 is especially effective in botrytis cinerea control, compared with such fungicides as pyrimethanil and procymidone. In addition, SYP-Z048 won’t lead to cross

resistance when used with other fungicides. According to field test result of tomato botrytis cinerea control from SYRICI, control effect of 25% SYP-Z048 EC reaches 89.79% with dosage of 400 g(i.a.)/ha., higher than that of 40% pyrimethanil SC and 50% procymidone WP (Pls refer to Fungicides China News 0905, Page 1).

SYP-1620

SYP-1620, a new strobilurin fungicide with broad-range of fungicidal activity, developed by SYRICI in 1999, is highly effective in controlling wheat powder mildew, wheat rust, rice blast, rice false smut, banana leaf spot, apple alternaria leaf spot, etc.

FIGURE 4: Structural formula of SYP-1620

Source: SYRICI

SYP-1620 was firstly produced in 2004 in the Pilot Plant of SYRICI, the only producer in the world. SYRICI developed its first formulation, 5% SYP-1620 EC in 2006, and started commercial production of another formulation, 20% SYP-1620·tebuconazole SC this year.

Up to now, SYRICI has obtained four Chinese patents and one American patent for SYP-1620 since 1999, including a Chinese patent for 20% SYP-1620·tebuconazole SC (ZL03134025.3).

SYP-1620 has been promoted well in the control of wheat powder mildew and banana leaf spot, in Shandong province and South China respectively, with commercial production of 20% SYP-1620·tebuconazole SC in 2008.

Resemble to the development of SYP-Z071, SYRICI has also completed technological upgrade of SYP-1620 by launching a new production line with technical capacity of 10t/a.



Comments

China is making great efforts in pesticide independent innovation, with pesticide development listed in the Guideline of Medium- and Long-Term Program for Science and Technology (2006-2020). China started to build National Pesticide R & D Centers in the 9th Five-year plan

period (1995-2000).

SYRICI, as the first comprehensive R&D unit for China’s chemical industry, has contributed a lot in developing China’s pesticide industry. Except for the above 4 fungicides with Chinese patents having been commercially produced, there are other 3 fungicides being developed or

at the field test stage by SYRICI, with test numbers of SYP-3375, SYP-3343, SYP-3759.

CCM will continue to introduce other fungicides with self-dominated intellectual property right in China in next issue.

Large demand boosts difenoconazole market

■ Supply and Demand

Owing to large demand both at home and abroad, difenoconazole technical supply is very tight in

Chinese market in May 2009, which has largely boosted its market.

In China, most large manufacturers have no difenoconazole technical storage at present, due to its tight supply in recent months.

According to Mr. Yang, sales manager from Beijing Green Agrosino Company (Green Agrosino), the company’s difenoconazole technical supply is very tight and is not able to satisfy new orders until Jun. 2009.And Shandong Shouguang ShuangXing Pesticide Company (Shouguang ShuangXing) isn’t able to satisfy new difenoconazole technical orders until late Jun. 2009, according to Ms. Liu, sales manager from the company.

Tight supply of difenoconazole technical is mainly due to the following three reasons:

With pesticide consumption entering peak season in China at present, especially in South China, domestic demand for difenoconazole technical is very large, as most difenoconazole formulation producers in China are busy producing. According to Shandong Dongtai Agrochemical Company, the company sells difenoconazole technical very well in economic crop planting regions in the south of China.

Besides,� 10% difenoconazole WDG is among the four formulations recommended by National Agro-Tech Extension and Service Center (NATESC) in Mar. 2009, which include 2% kasugamycin AS, 47%

kasugamycin · copper oxychloride WP, 10% difenoconazole WG and 20% thiediazole copper SC. Therefore, more peasants would use 10% difenoconazole WDG, thus boosting difenoconazole.

Meanwhile, large demand from overseas is another important factor boosting tight supply of difenoconazole technical. As Table 1 shows, Green Agrosino and Shandong Dongtai export 70% of their difenoconazole to overseas markets, such as Vietnam, while Shouguang ShuangXing exports 50% of its difenoconazole output. According to Ms. Liu, difenoconazole technical are well sold both in domestic and overseas market at present.

With difenoconazole technical tight supply in Chinese market, many companies have registered its technical and formulations. Difenoconazole were the most popular fungicide registered in Apr. 2009 (Pls refer to Fungicides China News 0905, P15). Besides, some companies like Shouguang ShuangXing are expending their capacity/output. According to Ms. Liu, Shouguang ShuangXing will expend its difenoconazole technical output to 20t/month in H2 2009.

However, difenoconazole price has reduced to USD32,178/t in early May, compared with USD35,103/t in May 2008, as shown in Figure 5, mainly due to the global financial crisis. It is predicted that difenoconazole technical supply will continue to be tight in the near future, as fruit disease occurrence will be severe in recent months, which may drive its price up in near future.

Difenoconazole, a systemic fungicide with broad spectrum, provides long-lasting preventive and

TABLE 1: Current production situation of major difenoconazole technical producers

Producers

ProductionCapacity (t/

a)

Output(t/

month)

Productionstatus

Exportproportion

Beijing Green Agrosino Company 200 15 Tight 70%

Shandong Dongtai Agrochemical Company 300 20 Tight 70%

Jiangsu Sevencontinent Green Chemical Company N/A 10 Normal N/A

Shandong Shouguang ShuangXing Pesticide Company 300 10 Tight 50%

Source: Shanghai metal website



curative activity against ascomycetes, basidiomycetes and deuteromycetes, including alternaria, ascochyta, cercospora, cercosporidium, colletotrichum, guignardia, mycosphaerella, rhizoctonia, septoria, uncinula, etc.

At present, 10% difenoconazole WDG, 25%

difenoconazole EC and 37% difenoconazole WDG are most commonly used single formulations in China, while difenoconazole + propiconazole is the major difenoconazole mixed formulation.

TABLE 1: Current production situation of major difenoconazole technical producers

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

35,000

40,000

May-08 Jun-08 Jul-08 Aug-08 Sep-08 Oct-08 Nov-08 Dec-08 Jan-09 Feb-09 Mar-09 Apr-09 May-09Difenoconazole

Source: CCM International

Foreign procurement boosts captan & folpet market

Some foreign producers have suspended technical production of captan and folpet, which is to boost production and export of these two export-oriented fungicides in China.

Captan and folpet are broad-spectrum fungicides used to control various vegetable diseases, such as downy mildew, powdery mildew and anthracnose, as well as early blight and late blight of tomato and potato.

The two fungicides have the same capacity in China, as they can be produced by the same production line. Captan and folpet are export-oriented fungicides, with most of the output exported to Europe, South America, South Africa, etc.

Yingde Greatchem Chemicals Company (Yingde Greatchem) is producing technical of captan and folpet tightly at present thanks to large demand from overseas. It won’t accept new orders until mid June 2009, according to Mr. Bi, sales manager from the company.

Ningbo Zhenhai Hodak Agrochemicals Company (Ningbo Zhenhai Hodak) and Zhejiang Rayfull Holding Company (Zhejiang Rayfull) only produce these two products by orders.

Technical supply of captan and folpet is tight in China at present, as some foreign producers have suspended production due to capital shortage caused by global financial crisis. Besides, with higher production cost in the overseas, many formulation processors would like to import technical from China to reduce production cost. Both of these aspects has boosted captan and flopet demand.

It is predicted that captan and folpet are expected to have a promising market in near future. Currently, some companies, such as Yingde Greatchem, are expanding technical capacity of captan and folpet in order to satisfy the large export. According to Mr. Bi, Yingde Greatchem will double its captan technical capacity in Aug. ~ Sep.2009.

TABLE 2: Technical export situation of captan and folpet

Company Capacity (t/a) Export destination

Changzhou Pangu Chemical Company 800~900France, Spain, Turkey, Suriname, Lithuania, South Africa

Ningbo Zhenhai Hodak Agrochemicals Company 600~700Ecuador, Guatemala, Ukraine, Jordan, Dominican Rep, Chile, South Africa

Yingde Greatchem Chemicals Company 500~600 Spain, South Africa, Europe, South AmericaZhejiang Rayfull Holding Company 400~500 Europe, South America




Isoprothiolane sales robust

With the coming of peak season for rice blast occurrence

since late Apr. 2009, isoprothiolane production and sales have been robust in China.

Rice blast has occurred seriously in Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Jiangxi and Hunan at present, due to favorable temperature and large-scale adoption of non-resistant rice varieties this year. China has entered the peak season for rice blast control (Pls refer to Fungicides China News 0905, P13).

In China, three kinds of fungicides, including tricyclazole, isoprothiolane and iprobenfos, are commonly used to control rice blast, among which tricyclazole is mainly for rice blast prevention, iprobenfos for both prevention and treatment and isoprothiolane for treatment.

Isoprothiolane is an organic phosphine fungicide with high efficacy against rice blast. Occurrence of rice blast mainly depends on weather, while isoprothiolane

application volume mainly depends on disease degree, so isoprothiolane demand mainly depends as well.

China has currently 3 major isoprothiolane technical producers, about 40 single formulation producers and more than 30 mixed formulation producers, with technical capacity of 10,000t/a, output of 5, 000t/a and demand of 1,000~2,000t/a at present.

As Table 3 shows, Sichuan Academy and Sichuan Chuandong are producing isoprothiolane technical tightly. According to Ms. Yuan, director from Guanghan Testing Workshop of Sichuan Academy, isoprothiolane is under short supply both at home and abroad currently.

Sichuan Chuandong exports 60% of its isoprothiolane output to the overseas, such as Southeast Asia. Its domestic market has also started up thanks to the coming of peak season for isoprothiolane sales, according to Mr. Zheng, manager from the company.

Isoprothiolane technical produced by Zhejiang Linghua Industry Company is not sold in the market. The company uses the product itself to produce 30% and 40% isoprothiolane EC.

However, Hunan Hengyang Roymaster Bio-pesticide Company suspended isoprothiolane production to focus on glyphosate in H2 2008, according to Ms. Lin from the company.

As for price of isoprothiolane technical, it has reduced to USD4,270/t in early May from USD 5,400/t in 2008, mainly due to significant price drop of raw materials. Isoprothiolane sales volume is expected to rise this year, as more growers will be able to offer lower price and rice blast occurrence situation is severe this year with estimated stricken area of 5.60 million hectares.

CompanyOutput (t/month) Production

statusSichuan Academy of Chemical Industry Research & Design (Sichuan Academy) 300~400 Tight

Sichuan Chuandong Agrochemicals Company(Sichuan Chuandong) 80 Tight

Zhejiang Linghua Industry Company (Zhejiang Linghua) 40~50 Normal

Hunan Hengyang Roymaster Bio-pesticide Company (Hengyang Roymaster) 0 Suspended


TABLE 3: Current production situation of isoprothiolane technical producers

Hymexazol prosperity in April

After the slack demand from late 2008 to early 2009, hymexazol has enjoyed a promising market since

this April, as the peak season for rice seedling blight occurrence (June and July) is coming. Despite the gloomy export, robust domestic demand still promotes stable production of hymexazol technical.

Hymexazol has enjoyed a thriving market both at home and abroad in 2008 and is expected to enjoy a promising market in the future years.

Besides, with increasing demand of hymexazol in domestic market, methyl acetoacetate and Hydroxylamine

hydrochloride, raw materials for hymexazol technical production, have kept stable in terms of price and supply recently. Accordingly, price of hymexazol technical remained relatively stable in May, going down slightly from 25,000USD/t in Jan. to 23,500USD/t, when a majority of pesticides witnessed serious price drop in H1 2009.

Currently, 99% hymexazol technical becomes more and more popular in China, while 95% and 97% technical still dominate the overseas market. The producers begin to pay more attention to domestic market and promote 99% hymexazol technical to foreign users (Table 4).



According to Mr. Zhang, sales manager from Weifang Tianda Plants Protection Co., Ltd, with registration in May 2008 and technical innovation in late 2008, the company has started to produce 99% hymexazol technical in large scale and achieved good sales in early 2009. The company has hymexazol technical capacity of 200t/a. Its export proportion in the total output reduces to 25% in May from 60% in Jan. 2009 (Table 4).

Mr. Li, salesman from Shandong Qiaochang Chemical Co., Ltd, claimed that the company still mainly produces 95% hymexazol technical, as 99% technical hasn’t been well promoted yet. ‘We still largely rely on export at present, but we’re planning to produce 99% technical and adjust export proportion in the future,’ says Mr. Li.

Hymexazol, a systemic fungicide with high efficacy and low toxicity, is usually used as a soil disinfectant by binding with iron and aluminum ions to inhibit germination of spores. Hymexazol can be absorbed by and transfer across plant roots, and generate two glucosides in plants to improve physiological activity of crops, thus promoting crop growth and root tillering, increasing root hair and improving root activity.

As a broad-spectrum fungicide, hymexazol has good effects against various crops diseases induced by fusarium, pythium spp, rhizoctonia, etc, especially for the control of seedling blight on rice and sugarbeet and fusarium wilt on watermelon. It has small effect on bacteria and actinomycetes in soil, thus exerting little impact on microbiological ecology. Besides, it is environmentally friendly as it can

decompose into compounds with low toxicity.

Relevant news link: Hymexazol market promising in China(Fungicides Newsletter 0902, Page 2, by CCM International)

In China, hymexazol had witnessed a thriving market both at home and abroad in 2008, and was expected to have a promising market in the future years. To satisfy the future demand in the peak season from Apr. to Sep. 2009, most Chinese hymexazol technical producers have continued production even in slack season, from late 2008 to early 2009.

TABLE 3: Current production situation of isoprothiolane technical producers

Producer Capacity (t/a)

Export proportionExport destination

2009.01 2009.05

Weifang Tianda Plants Protection Company 200 50~60% 20%~30% Southeast Asia, East EuropeShandong Qiaochang Chemical Company 200 60% 45%~55% Middle East, East Europe


■ Price updates

Monthly price of key raw materials in Jun� 2009

Raw material/intermediates

Factory price Market price

10 Jun. 2009 10 May 2009 Jun. 2008 10Jun. 2009 10 May 2009 Jun. 2008

USD/t RMB/t USD/t RMB/t USD/t RMB/t USD/t RMB/t USD/t RMB/t USD/t RMB/t

2,6-Dimethyl aniline 12,097 82,700 12,120 82,700 18,747 129,300 12,141 83,000 12,164 83,000 18,798 129,650

Copper oxychloride 4,052 27,700 4,060 27,700 5,314 36,650 4,096 28,000 4,104 28,000 5,365 37,000

Cuprous oxide 6,100 41,700 6,112 41,700 8,939 61,650 6,143 42,000 6,155 42,000 8,989 62,000

M-xylene 1,682 11,500 1,715 11,700 2,269 15,650 1,726 11,800 1,759 12,000 2,320 16,000

Nitrobenzene 790 5,400 791 5,400 1,254 8,650 834 5,700 835 5,700 1,305 9,000

1,2,4-Triazole 5,734 39,200 5,818 39,700 6,909 47,650 5,778 39,500 5,862 40,000 6,959 48,000Sulphur 88 600 91 620 239 1,650 95 650 106 720 290 2,000




Monthly factory price of main fungicides in Jun� 2009

Technical10 Jun. 2009 10 May 2009 Jun. 2008

Formulation10 Jun. 2009 10 May 2009

USD/t RMB/t USD/t RMB/t USD/t RMB/t USD/t RMB/t USD/t RMB/t

Dimethomorph 16,339 111,700 16,810 114,700 18,073 124,650 50% WP 10,122 69,200 10,215 69,700

Chlorothalonil 5,076 34,700 5,305 36,200 5,749 39,650 75% WP 4,198 28,700 4,646 31,700

Mancozeb 3,467 23,700 3,547 24,200 4,299 29,650 80% WP 3,320 22,700 3,400 23,200

Isoprothiolane 4,198 28,700 4,280 29,200 5,604 38,650 - - - - -

Carbendazim 3,759 25,700 4,060 27,700 7,054 48,650 50% SC 2,443 16,700 2,521 17,200

Sulphur 351 2,400 366 2,500 1,051 7,250 50% SC 322 2,200 352 2,400

Phosethyl Al 2,516 17,200 2,667 18,200 4,081 28,150 - - - - -

Triadimefon 7,855 53,700 8,163 55,700 9,663 66,650 15% WP 1,711 11,700 2,081 14,200

Tebuconazole 14,262 97,500 14,319 97,700 18,798 129,650 - - - - -

Tricyclazole 7,562 51,700 7,577 51,700 7,924 54,650 - - - - -

Propiconazole 27,748 189,700 30,001 204,700 30,397 209,650 - - - - -

Metalaxyl 19,703 134,700 21,207 144,700 26,047 179,650 - - - - -

Prochloraz 7,416 50,700 7,577 51,700 11,766 81,150 - - - - -

Difenoconazole 32,136 219,700 32,199 219,700 36,196 249,650 - - - - -Propamocarb 6,538 44,700 7,137 48,700 8,141 56,150 - - - - -


Monthly Shanghai port price and FOB Shanghai of main fungicides in Jun� 2009

Technical

Shanghai port price FOB Shanghai

Formulation

Shanghai port price

10 Jun. 2009 10 May 2009 Jun. 200810 Jun. 2009

10 May 2009

10 Jun. 2009 10 May 2009

USD/t RMB/t USD/t RMB/t USD/t RMB/t USD/t USD/t USD/t RMB/t USD/t RMB/t

Dimethomorph 16,383 112,000 16,854 115,000 18,124 125,000 15,753 16,205 50% WP 10,166 69,500 10,259 70,000

Chlorothalonil 5,120 35,000 5,349 36,500 5,800 40,000 4,974 5,195 75% WP 4,242 29,000 4,690 32,000

Mancozeb 3,511 24,000 3,591 24,500 4,350 30,000 3,435 3,511 80% WP 3,364 23,000 3,444 23,500

Isoprothiolane 4,242 29,000 4,323 29,500 5,655 39,000 4,135 4,213 - - - - -

Carbendazim 3,803 26,000 4,104 28,000 7,104 49,000 3,715 4,002 50% SC 2,487 17,000 2,565 17,500

Sulphur 395 2,700 410 2,800 1,102 7,600 453 468 50% SC 366 2,500 396 2,700

Phosethyl Al 2,560 17,500 2,711 18,500 4,132 28,500 2,525 2,670 - - - - -

Triadimefon 7,899 54,000 8,207 56,000 9,714 67,000 7,634 7,930 15% WP 1,755 12,000 2,125 14,500Tebuconazole 14,306 97,800 14,363 98,000 18,849 130,000 13,765 13,820 - - - - -

Tricyclazole 7,606 52,000 7,621 52,000 7,974 55,000 7,354 7,369 - - - - -

Propiconazole 27,792 190,000 30,045 205,000 30,448 210,000 26,672 28,828 - - - - -

Metalaxyl 19,747 135,000 21,251 145,000 26,098 180,000 18,973 20,412 - - - - -

Prochloraz 7,460 51,000 7,621 52,000 11,817 81,500 7,214 7,369 - - - - -

Difenoconazole 32,180 220,000 32,243 220,000 36,247 250,000 30,871 30,932 - - - - -

Propamocarb 6,582 45,000 7,181 49,000 8,192 56,500 6,374 6,948 - - - - -




Monthly market price of main crops in Jun� 2009

Crops10 Jun. 2009 10 May 2009 Jun. 2008

USD/t RMB/t USD/t RMB/t USD/t RMB/t

Wheat 268 1,830 268 1,827 231 1,592

Yellow maize 227 1,554 227 1,546 238 1,639

Peanut Kernel 917 6,267 1,011 6,900 1,179 8,130

Indica rice 404 2,759 404 2,758 393 2,709

Japonica rice 490 3,350 481 3,280 441 3,040

Banana 834 5,700 821 5,600 580 4,000

Cucumber 176 1,200 322 2,200 174 1,200 Apple 878 6,000 806 5,500 797 5,500


■ Pricing

Most fungicide prices continue downtrend in early June

With a sustaining downtrend in May, price of most popular fungicides continues to decrease in early June, some even reaching the lowest level in recent years, mainly due to export depression.

Price of mancozeb technical, a fungicide with largest capacity in China, has decreased to USD3,511/t in early June, down 2.23% over the previous month. Mancozeb technical supply still exceeds the demand severely in early June, leading to more intense competition and continuous price decrease. It is worthy noting that the downtrend has slowed down, with decrease rate reducing from 5.66% in previous month to 2.23% in early June.

Price of carbendazim technical, the largest domestic benzimidazole fungicide, has declined to USD3,803/t in early June, down 7.34% over the previous month, reaching the lowest level in recent years. After the sharp slump from USD6,290/t in Mar. to USD4,242/t in Apr., price of carbendazim technical has dropped slightly, following the sustaining export depression.

Chlorothalonil technical price has decreased by 4.29% in June, compared with USD5,349/t in May. The price war was still severe, in which most producers have cut down quotation to capture market share since early 2009.

Similarly, price of some triazole fungicides decreased slightly in early June, after a continuous rebound from February to April. Prices of tebuconazole, propiconazole and triadimefon have decreased by 0.41%, 7.50% and 3.75% separately over the previous month, due to the shrinking demand from global market.

However, difenoconazole price has maintained the same level with last month, thanks to its wide use range and excellent effect. According to Mr. Zhang from Beijing Green Jixi agrosino Biotech Co., Ltd, the company still busily produces difenoconazole technical though some other pesticides had faced continuous price downtrend. Seeing the promising market, most Chinese producers plan to expand capacity in the near future.

The sharp downtrend for prochloraz technical price has stopped in early June, though it still drops slightly compared with last month. Prochloraz technical price has reached the lowest level in recent years to USD7,462, down 2.11% over the previous month. As an export-oriented with 70% output exported, prochloraz technical has witnessed a price drop of 37.8% from USD11,988/t in Dec. 2008,. It is estimated that it will continue to drop in the future.

Most fungicide prices haven’t dropped sharply in early June, thanks to the recovery of Chinese economy. However, with the global financial crisis, fungicide market in China still needs some time to recover in the near future.



Jiangsu Chengyang to build 200t/a cyproconazole

■ Company Dynamics

Jiangsu Chengyang Crop Technological Co., Ltd (Jiangsu

Chengyang) is applying for registration of 95% cyproconazole technical and planning to build a new 200t/a cyproconazole production line and locate it in late 2010.

The production line will be built in its new plant located in Nanjing Chemical Industrial Park, together with a 200t/a difenoconazole production line, with total investment of USD15 million.

Mr. Xu from Jiangsu Chengyang claims that the new plant is currently under construction, with the 200t/a cyproconazole technical production line under environmental impact assessment. “China has recently no legal registration for cyproconazole technical, though some producers have produced and sold this product illegally. This fungicide is expensive, which generates large room for profit,’ said Mr. Xu.

According to the report for environmental impact assessment,

production process of cyproconazole

technical includes synthesis and refining of onium salts and 1-(4-chlorophenyl)-2-cyclopropyl-propane. The company produces onium salts using dimethyl sulfoxide and dimethyl sulfate as raw materials, avoiding the stench emitted by dimethyl sulfide, a raw material used to produce onium salts by traditional technology.

Furthermore, Jiangsu Chengyang uses 1-(4-chlorophenyl)-2-cyclopropyl-propane as intermediate, which is much cheaper than 4-chlorophenyl-cyclopropyl-methyl-ketone adopted in traditional route. Traditional intermediate has so high price mainly because one of its raw material is very expensive, with price of USD44,000/t.

Developed by Clariant Corporation (previous Sandoz Corporation) in 1985, cyproconazole is a low toxic triazole fungicide with high efficacy against powdery mildew, cereal rust, apple scab, etc.

Domestic cyproconazole production

is quite novel, although it is mature

abroad. Some producers began to produce cyproconazole technical with small scale in early 2007, though without registration. With highest price of more than USD130,000/t, cyproconazole becomes the most expensive fungicide in China.

History proved that large numbers of people would roll in when a new market shows up. With more and more companies engaging in cyproconazole production and large impact by global financial crisis, cyproconazole price dropped greatly since 2008, down to USD88,000/t recently.

When more and more producers eliminated, the survivals began to develop new production technology and formally apply for registration. These companies, including Jiangsu Chengyang, will gradually dominate Chinese cyproconazole technical production in the near future.

TABLE 1: Domestic registered epoxiconazole technical producers, 2009

Fungicides Company Capacity (t/a)Registration

SituationQuoted Price

(USD/t)

Cyproconazole technical

Jiangsu Chengyang Crop Technological Co., Ltd200 (when

finish)Applying N/A

Jiangsu Yancheng Limin Chemical Co., Ltd. 150 Applying 95,187

Zhejiang Shangyu Yinbang Chemical Co., Ltd 100 Applying 77,614

Hunan Xiangda Bide Chemical Co., Ltd Stop production N/A 87,865


Shanghai newly carried out a provision named ‘Provisions of Shanghai Municipality on Administration of Operation and Application of Pesticide’ on 1 June, 2009, which regulates that distribution of pesticides must be unified and

those who purchase highly toxic pesticide must show their ID card. Besides, the provision has suggested a series of measures strengthening safe management of pesticides.

Shanghai carried out a new provision in 1 June



Shouguang ShuangXing to build 1,000t/a tebuconazole

Shandong Shouguang ShuangXing Pesticide Company (Shouguang ShuangXing) is to build a new 1,000t/a

tebuconazole technical production line in H2 2009, and expects to launch it in the end of 2009.

This tebuconazole technical production line will be located in Shouguang ShuangXing’s new plant. Mr. Liu, manager from the company reveals that the new plant is currently under construction, located in Shandong Weifang Binhai Economic Development Area.

Shouguang Shuangxing will use chlorobenzaldehyde, pinacolone and 1,2,4-triazole purchased from domestic producers as major starting raw materials to produce tebuconazole technical.

After the launch of the production line, 60~70% of tebuconazole technical produced will be exported to the overseas, including Europe, America and Southeast Asia, and the remaining will be consumed by itself to process formulations such as 12.5% tebuconazole EW, which will be mainly sold in domestic market, according to Mr. Liu.

According to a principal from Product Information Department of Shouguang Shuangxing, the company is now applying for registration of tebuconazole technical, and is expected to obtain the certificate in early 2010.

Moreover, Liu claims that construction of this production line is mainly driven by good market prospect of tebuconazole technical and formulations.

Tebuconazole formulations have been promoted well in domestic market in recent years for the control of various crop diseases such as rust, powdery mildew and scab. The overseas demand for tebuconazole technical has also kept robust. Therefore, tebuconazole registration has soared in China since 2008 (referred to Fungicides China News 0905, Page 16), with large production capacity expansion.

Owing to bright market prospect, the company has given priority to tebuconazole product development. The company has previously planned to launch several new production lines for different fungicide technical including tebuconazole, difenoconazole, propiconazole and mancozeb in H2 2009 when the new plant is finished construction. However, with export depression caused by the global financial crisis, the mancozeb technical capacity expansion, from 500t/a to 3,000~5,000t/a has been postponed, and the schedule for difenoconazole and propiconazole expansion is uncertain yet.

Shouguang ShuangXing, established in 1997, is a subsidiary of Shandong A & fine Agrochemicals Group. It has hundreds of registration products such as TC, WP, WDG, EC, EW, ME and SL. Its fungicide products with brand of ‘Shuangxing’, such as propiconazole and mancozeb, enjoy good reputation among Chinese crop growers.

TABLE 6: Major tebuconazole technical producers in China

Company Production capacity (t/a)

Jiangsu Zhangjiagang No. 2 Pesticide Factory 3,000

Shanghai Shengnong Pesticide Co., Ltd. 2,000

Jiangsu Sevencontinent Green Chemical Co., Ltd. 1,000

Jiangsu Sheyang Huanghai Pesticide Chemical Co., Ltd. 800

Jiangsu Sword Agrochemicals Co., Ltd. 600

Sinochem Ningbo Chemicals Co., Ltd. 500

Jiangsu Flag Chemical Industry Co., Ltd. 300

Jiangsu Tuoqiu Agrochemicals Co., Ltd. 300

Anhui Huaxing Chemical Co., Ltd. 300

Jiangsu Fengdeng Pesticide Co., Ltd. 100

Jilin Agrochemicals Co., Ltd. Of CNPC Jilin Chemical Group 500

Shandong Huayang Technology Co., Ltd. 300

Jiangsu Bailing Agrochemical Co., Ltd. 200

Shanghai Heben-Eastsun Medicaments Co., Ltd. 150




Jiangsu Taicang to build another 300t/a benomyl technical

Jiangsu Taicang Agrochemical Company (Jiangsu Taicang) plans to build another 300t/a benomyl technical production line in its new plant located in Rugao County, and expects to launch it by late 2010, thus expanding its

total benomyl capacity to 900t/a.

As a systemic fungicide with low toxicity, benomyl has high efficacy against diseases of grain, grape, pip fruits, rice and vegetable caused by ascomycetous, deuteromycetous and some basidiomyctous fungi. Benomyl is a benzimidazole fungicide flourishing in the 1980s, but is not so popular now, due to serious resistance and large dosage.

Mr. Gao, sales manager from Jiangsu Taicang, claimed that all benomyl technical produced by the company are exported. With good reputation and high quality, the company received many orders from the overseas. It has a long-term client from Belgium who purchases more than 100 tonnes of benomyl from it every year. With good sales channels, the company plans to expand the capacity.

According to the statistics from Institute for the Control of Agrochemicals, Ministry of Agriculture (ICAMA), China has only five registrations for benomyl technical and one is expired at present. Jiangsu Taicang and Jiangsu Lanfeng are the only 2 legal benomyl technical producers in China at present. Other 3 registrants have stopped production, as they haven’t established long-term relationship with overseas companies and can’t sell their product under the global financial crisis.

Jiangsu Taicang survives with high product quality, while Lanfeng answers the enemy with low price and large capacity. Mr. Ma, sales manager from Jiangsu Lanfeng, claimed that his company has much bigger workshop than JiangsuTaicang and can reduce production cost by self-producing raw materials, thus being able to offer lower price. Price investigation showed that benomyl technical price kept stable in early 2009, quoted USD10,000/t by Jiangsu Taicang and USD8,800/t by Jiangsu Lanfeng.

‘When the new production line is launched, with larger capacity, we will be able to reduce production cost, thus lowing down the quotation. Aided by high quality we kept all along, our benomyl may dominate Chinese export by then, ‘ Said Mr. Gao from Jiangsu Taicang.

Established in 1983, Jiangsu Taicang has technical capacity of 3,000t/a carbendzain, 600t/a benomyl, 3,000t/a glyphosate, 500t/a thiophanate-methyl, 100t/a propiconazol and 300t/a dodine in Taicang County. It is currently building a new plant with 10,000t/a glyphosate, 2,500t/a carbendzain (introduced in CCM’s Fungicides China News 0905), 300t/a benomyl, 500t/a thiophanate-methyl, 50t/a propiconazol, 500t/a dodine, etc. in Rugao County of Jiangsu.

TABLE 7: Registration situation of benomyl technical in China

FungicideA.I.

contentRegistration period Registration Company

Capacity (t/a)

Export Proportion

Survey Remark

Benomyl Technical

95%2009.01.06 ---

2009.12.31Jiangsu Taicang Agrochemical Co.,

Ltd ( Jiangsu Taicang )600 100%

Up to 900t/a when the new line completes

95%2008.10.17 ---

2009.10.17Jiangsu Lanfeng Bio-Chem Co.,

Ltd ( Jiangsu Lanfeng)1,200 80% N/A

90%2009.01.09 ---

2009.12.31Jiangsu Anpon Electrochemical

Co., LtdN/A N/A

Stop production because of severe pollution

95%2009.02.20 ---

2009.12.31Jinagsu Jiangyin KAJO Agrochemical Co., Ltd.

N/A N/AStop production several

years ago

95%2007.03.23 ---

2008.12.31 (expired)Jiangsu Suzhou Worldbest Agro-

Biochemical Co., Ltd.N/A N/A

Stop production several years ago

Source:ICAMA, CCM International

http://kajo2004.cn.chemnet.com

http://kajo2004.cn.chemnet.com



Jiangsu Lanfeng’s thiophanate-methyl sees robust demand

Jiangsu Lanfeng Bio-chem Company (Jiangsu Lanfeng), the

largest thiophanate-methyl producer with capacity of 4,500~5,000t/a in China, has witnessed robust demand at home and abroad, thanks to its competitive advantage and higher environmental protection requirement released by the government.

Thiophanate-methyl is a kind of benzimidazole and broad spectrum fungicide used to control various crop diseases such as wheat scab, rice sheath blight, apple ring rot and cucurbits powdery mildew.

China is one of the largest thiophanate-methyl production countries in the world, with total capacity of about 16,000t/a. At present, the 3 largest thiophanate-methyl producers in China include Jiangsu Lanfeng Bio-chem Company (Jiangsu Lanfeng), Anhui Guangxin Agrochemical Group Company (Anhui Guangxin) and Suzhou Worldbest Agro-Biochemical Company (Suzhou Worldbest) (Table 8), with their total capacity reaching about 12,000~13,000t/a, taking up around 80% of total market share.

According to Ms. Cai, sales manager from Jiangsu Lanfeng, the company produces thiophanate-methyl all year around thanks to large demand both at home and abroad, except the period for equipment maintenance. It exports 70% of its thiophanate-methyl technical to overseas, such as America, Europe and Southeast Asia.

However, according to Mr. Fan, sales manager from Shandong Huayang Science and Technology Company (Shandong Huayang), the company has currently suspended production to update its equipment, aiming to meet the requirement for environmental protection. Therefore, it has no output in 2009 and will resume production in 2010. Suzhou Worldbest has also suspended thiophanate-methyl technical production at present, due to the stricter environmental

protection policy in Suzhou. It now mainly purchases technical from other companies to process thiophanate-methyl formulations.

As for Jiangxi Haili Guixi Pesticide & Chemicals Company (Jiangxi Haili), it produces thiophanate-methyl technical only by orders and exports 50% of its output. It has also suspended production now, due to the coming of thiophanate-methyl slack season, relatively large storage and no purchasing orders, according to Mr. Xiong, sales manager of the company.

Jiangsu Lanfeng’s thiophanate-methyl witnesses robust demand mainly thanks to the following

reasons:For one thing, Jiangsu Lanfeng has faced less competition from other

fungicide producers, as there are only two producers, namely Jiangsu Lanfeng itself and Anhui Guangxin producing thiophanate-methyl in China at present.. And Anhui Guangxin is the largest carbendazim producer in China with capacity of 15,000t/a who pays more attention to carbendazim production.

For another, environmental protection policy in Jiangsu, location of Jiangsu Lanfeng is not as strict as that in other regions such as Suzhou, location of Suzhou Worldbest, so Jiangsu Lanfang needs to spend less in environmental protection, which also becomes an advantage for its thiophanate-methyl production. Suzhou Worldbest

was the third largest thiophanate-methyl producer in China before Beijing Olympic Games, but it has

TABLE 8: Major thiophanate-methyl technical producers in 2009

Production companies

Production capacity (t/a)

Output in 2008 (tonne)

Export proportion

Production status

Jiangsu Lanfeng 4,500~5,000 4,000 70% Active

Anhui Guangxin 3,500~3,800 3,200 60~70% Active

Suzhou Worldbest 4,000 2,000~2,500 0 Stopped

Shandong Huayang 1,200~1,500 300~500 0 Stopped

Jiangxi Haili 1,200~1,500 1,000 0 Stopped


FIGURE 6: Distribution of major thiophanate-methyl technical producers in China




suspended thiophanate-methyl technical production due to the strict environmental protection policy in Suzhou.

Though Jiangsu Lanfeng’s

thiophanate-methyl technical has witnessed robust demand from formulation production, such as thiophanate-methyl WP, thiophanate-methyl SC and mixed formulation production with thiram

and sulfur, its price has decreased slightly during Jan. 2009 to May 2009, mainly due to the global financial crisis, as shown in Figure 6.

FIGURE 7: Price change of thiophanate-methyl and carbendazim, Jan. ~ May 2009 (Unit: USD/t)

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

35,000

40,000



JZPC building 100,000t/a m-xylene

■ Raw Material, Intermediates and Additives

Jiangsu Zhongxin Petrochemical Company (JZPC) now is building

a 100,000t/a m-xylene production line, and is expected to launch it in late 2010, which will help to relieve domestic m-xylene short supply in the future.

JZPC’s m-xylene project, with total investment of USD99.5 million and coverage area of 163,333m2, is located in Lingang Xincheng

Development Zone of Jiangsu. This project has initiated construction in Mar. 2009 and is expected to launch in H2 2010, including matching facilities of 120,000t/a isophthalic acid production line.

According to Mr. Sima, principle of this project, the company will adopt a new patent technology to produce m-xylene, using bottle grade pet, textiles, disinfection solution and perfume as raw materials. Sima reveals that this patent technology is brought from UOP (the United States) with USD20 million.

Moreover, active ingredient content

of m-xylene produced by JZPC will reach 99.95%, highest among all the domestic producers. At present, active ingredient content of m-xylene produced by Yanshan Petrochemical Company is 99.50%.

Sima expresses that all m-xylene produced by JZPC will be supplied to domestic downstream companies. ‘With high product quality and m-xylene short supply, our company has signed long-term contract with some domestic companies, ‘ Sima says.

M-xylene, a basic chemical raw material, is widely applied in the

production of pesticides, dyes, medicine, pigments, etc. A series of chemical intermediates, such as isophthalic acid, isophthalonitrile, 2,4 (2,6)-dimethyl aniline and m-toluic acid, can be produced using m-xylene

TABLE 9: M-xylene and its downstream pesticides

Raw material Intermediate Pesticide

M-xylene

Isophthalonitrile Chlorothalonil (Fungicide)

2,4-dimethyl ani ine Semiamitraz chloride, amitraz (Insecticide)

2,6-dimethyl aniline Metalaxyl (Fungicide)




■ Disease

as raw material.

Homemade m-xylene is far from meeting demand from its downstream industries. At present, Yanshan Petrochemical Company, with 35,000t/a production capacity, is the only m-xylene producer in China, after Shanghai Petrochemical Company, with 8,000t/a capacity, stopped production in 2006. However, compared with annual domestic m-xylene demand of 106,000 tonnes in 2007 and 141,500 tonnes in 2009(predicted by JZPC), current capacity is far from meeting the demand.

As for m-xylene used in downstream fungicide production, the demand from chlorothalonil and metalaxyl production was about 15,000t/a in 2008, and this demand will increase by 4,000~5,000t/a in 2009, with capacity expansion of the two fungicides (Table 10).

TABLE 10: Production capacity expansion of chlorothalonil and metalaxyl in China (Unit: t/a)

Fungicide Capacity ‘08 Capacity ‘09 Remark

Chlorothalonil 13,100 18,100Jiangsu Xinyi CAC Chemical Company is to launch 5,000t/a production line in Jun. or Jul. 2009.

Metalaxyl 1,500 2,500

Jiangsu Baoling Chemical Company and Zhejiang Heben Pesticide & Chemicals Company expanded by 400t/a and 600t/a in early 2009.


Potato late blight to prevail in China

Potato late blight has hit accumulatively 184,600 hectares

of planting area in Southwest China and Central China by mid May 2009, and is predicted to occur severely in East China, North China, Northeast China and Northwest China during late May to August this year, according to National Agro-Tech Extension and Service Center (NATESC).

In mid May, potato late blight has occurred severely in some major potato production regions of Southwest China and Central China, especially in Chongqing and Sichuan,

with much larger stricken areas compared with the same period of 2008 (Table 11).

Chongqing is the most severely stricken region by potato late blight, with stricken area of 74,867 hectares by mid May 2009, accounting for 36.8% of Chongqing’s total potato planting area. The stricken regions mainly distribute in mountainous

areas with low altitude of Chongqing, and are estimated to expand fast in the future months, due to the favorable weather condition, the high seed transmission rate, and

potato growers’ insufficient efforts on disease control.

It is predicted that from late May to early June, potato late blight will further expand in Southwest China, Central China and East China. Then from June to August, the occurrence will still be severe, since weather forecast from National Climate Center shows that rainfall in most

regions of Northwest China, North China and Northeast China

will be more abundant than normal years, which is favorable for occurrence and spread of potato late blight.

Owing to forecasted severe occurrence of late blight in China’s major potato planting regions, some traditional fungicide formulations with

high control effect and low toxicity, such as 80% mancozeb WP, 65% zineb WP and 4% metalaxyl-M + 64% mancozeb WDG, are expected to enjoy market growth in domestic

TABLE 11: Occurrence situation of potato late blight in China (Unit: hectare)

Region Stricken area by mid May 2009 Change over last year

Chongqing 74,867 Up 87.7% year on year

Sichuan 36,667 Up 37.0% year on year

Yunnan 1,533 A little severe than last year

Guizhou 16,000 Down 36.0% year on year

Hubei 40,000 N/A

Hunan 7,400 N/A

Shaanxi 8,133 N/A

Source: NATESC



market, thanks to their excellent performance in potato late blight control and relatively low price.However, as for the new fungicides against potato late blight, like azoxystrobin, cyazofamid and fluazinam, their domestic demand will stay at a low level in the future years, since their promotion will still be difficult due to the high price.

Aim to control potato late blight and promote treatment technology, NATESC held a National Potato Late Blight Prevention Conference from 23 April to 24 April 2009 in Jinan city, Shandong province.

PICTURE 1: Potato and its leaves hit by late blight

Serious wheat stripe rust and powdery mildew in Henan

Wheat stripe rust and powdery mildew, two key wheat

diseases, have occurred severely this year in Henan, with stricken areas of 1.01 million hectares and 2.05 million hectares by May 19th, 2009, accounting for 19.1% and 39.0% respectively of Henan’s total wheat planting area.

Henan is the largest wheat production region in China, with total planting area of 5.26 million hectares, accounting for 22.8% of China’s total.

According to the monitoring data from Henan Plant Protection Station, the stricken areas by wheat stripe rust and powdery mildew have kept increasing since late Apr. 2009 (FIGURE 8). From Apr. 21st to May 19th, the wheat areas hit by stripe rust and powdery mildew have grown by 3.97 times and 2.05 times respectively.

Owing to severe drought during Feb. and Mar. and large-scale rainfall in recent two months, wheat planting areas hit by stripe rust and powdery mildew have increased remarkably in Henan. By May 19th, 2009, wheat powdery mildew has hit accumulatively 2.05 million hectares of wheat planting area, up 77.8% year on year. Besides, stricken area by wheat stripe rust has increased by several times over the same period of 2008, as this disease began to spread in Henan in March, about 40 days earlier than last year.

With severe and large-scale occurrence of wheat stripe

rust and powdery mildew, consumption of related fungicides has risen largely this year. Triazole fungicides, including triadimefon, tebuconazole, flutriafol, propiconazole, etc, have enjoyed a remarkable demand growth for their good control effect against these two diseases. In particular, domestic demand for triadimefon, the most popular triazole fungicide applied in China, has grown by more than 70% in Henan.

By May 19th, 2009, accumulative control areas to wheat stripe rust and powdery mildew have reached 1.56 million hectares and 2.45 million hectares in Henan, 1.55 times and 1.22 times compared to the disease-stricken areas respectively.

In Henan, wheat harvest began in late May and is estimated to finish in mid-Jun. By Jun. 2nd, the harvested area has reached 1.69 million hectares, accounting for 32.2% of Henan’s total wheat planting area.

FIGURE 8: Wheat areas hit by stripe rust and powdery mildew, 21 Apr.~19 May (Unit: ‘000 hectares)

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

35,000

40,000


Source: Henan Plant Protection Station

PICTURE 2: Wheat powdery mildew

PICTURE 3: Wheat stripe rust



■ Registration

Fungicide registration in May 2009

182 fungicide registrations were obtained by 158 companies in May

2009, including 12 for technical, 87 for single formulation and 83 for mixed formulation.

According to statistics from the Institute for Control of Agrochemicals, Ministry of Agriculture (ICAMA), there’re only 12 fungicide technical registered in May 2009, all of which were registered only by once. The most popular single formulation and mixed formulation were difenoconazole WDG and carbendazim + mancozeb WP respectively.

Registration data shows that the 12 fungicide technical registrations, 8 temporary and 4 formal, were achieved by 12 companies and two among the 8 temporary ones were new. It is worthy noting that 98% cyprodinil technical is registered by domestic producer for the first time, by Jiangsu Fengdeng Pesticide Co., Ltd.

Developed by Syngenta(previous Novartis AG) in the 1980s, cyprodinil is mainly used to prevent and treat botrytis cinerea, powdery

mildew and scab, and has met a thriving market in the past few years. Its patent established by Syngenta has expired in 2007.

And 3 of the 4 formal registrations were new, including 95% kresoxim-methyl technical, 95% isoprothiolane technical and 98% oxine-copper technical. The remaining one, 96% oxadixyl technical, was registered by

Syngenta in 1999.

As for single formulation, the 87 registrations, including 57 temporary, 21 formal and 9 repacking, were achieved by 73 companies. Difenoconazole WDG,

registered for 4 times, was the most popular fungicide single formulation registered in May 2009.

The 83 mixed formulation registrations, including 37 temporary, 40 formal and 6 repacking, were achieved by 73 companies. Carbendazim + mancozeb WP was the most popular fungicide mixed formulation in May, which has been

registered for 9 times.

92 registrations of fungicide formulation are of WP type, accounting for 54.1% of the total 170 formulation registrations.

TABLE 13: Registration situation of fungicide technical in May 2009

Fungicide technical registered Registration times

Difenoconazole, metiram, isoprothiolane, dufulin, oxadixyl, flutriafol, fluazinam, oxine-copper, kresoxim-methyl, cyprodinil, pyrimethanil, dimethomorph Once

Source: ICAMA

TABLE 12: Regional distribution of new fungicide technical registrations in May 2009

Region Number of producer Number of registration

Jiangsu 6 6

Sichuan 2 2

Guizhou 1 1

Henan 1 1

Taiwan 1 1

Foreign country 1 1

Source: ICAMA

TABLE 14: China’s fungicide registration situation in May 2009

CategoryNumber

of producer

Number of registration

Temporary Registration Formal Registration Repacking Registration

Popular registrationSubtotal

New registration

SubtotalNew

registration

Technical 12 12 8 2 4 3 0 N/A

Singleformulation

73 87 57 4 21 20 9Difenoconazole, tebuconazole,

mancozeb, carbendazim

M i x e d formulation

73 83 37 4 40 40 6

Carbendazim + mancozeb, moroxydine hydrochloride

+ copper acetate,fosetyl-aluminium +

mancozeb

Source: ICAMA



Metalaxyl mixed formulation registration soars in China

The registration for Metalaxyl mixed formulation has soared

in 2008 and 2009, while almost no technical or single formulation was registered in the past ten years. As a systemic and low toxic fungicide, metalaxyl is mainly used to control downy mildew of cucumber and millet, Phytophthora boehmeriae, white rust of crucifer, etc.

As of May 2009, 410 metalaxyl registration applications, both valid and overdue from 177 companies, have been approved in China, including 14 for technical, 7 for single formulation and 389 for mixed formulation.

According to the data from Institute for Control of Agrochemicals, Ministry of Agriculture (ICAMA), 86 of the 410 registrations were approved in Jan. ~ May 2009 and 87 in 2008, compared with 26 in 2007.

85 of the total 389 metalaxyl mixed formulation were registered in Jan. ~ May 2009, compared with 84 in the whole 2008 and 22 in 2007. Metalaxy + mancozeb, with excellent control effect against downy mildew, was the most popular fungicide mixed formulation, registered for 182 times.

Different from the soaring registration of mixed formulation, only 14 metalaxyl technical were registered in China, among which 10 were registered between 1999 and 2009. Only one technical was registered in Jan. ~ May 2009, by New Zealand Taranaki Chemical Co., Ltd, and two were approved in 2008.

Furthermore, only 2 metalaxyl DS registrations were approved between 1999 and 2009,

respectively in 2007 and 2008. The reasons why metalaxyl mixed formulation registration soars are as follows:

Metalaxyl, being used since 1977, has faced great resistance. However, metalaxyl mixed formulations, such as metalaxy + mancozeb and metalaxy + thiram, can deal with the resistance effectively.

What’s more, metalaxyl mixed formulations are more effective than other fungicides on downy mildew, a disease often found in cabbage,

cucumber and millet in China when enters rainy season. With promotion, a growing number of farmers start to use metalaxyl mixed formulations, especially metalaxy + mancozeb, for downy mildew control.

To meet the soaring demand, more and more producers register and produce metalaxyl mixed formulations.

TABLE 15: Registration situation of metalaxyl in the past ten years

Year Technical Single formulation Mixed formulation Total

1999 1 0 19 20

2000 0 0 18 18

2001 0 0 21 21

2002 0 0 15 15

2003 0 0 25 25

2004 1 0 20 21

2005 1 0 25 26

2006 1 0 15 16

2007 3 1 22 26

2008 2 1 84 87

Jan. ~ May 2009 1 0 85 86

Source: ICAMA

FIGURE 9: Metalaxyl mixed formulation registration number in China, 1999 ~ May 2009

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009*

New

regi

stra

tion

m ixed formulation

Source: ICAMA

Note: 2009* refers to Jan. ~ May 2009



■ Policy

Shandong to boost 6 fungicide projects

Shandong releases guiding opinions on local pesticide

industry and plans to boost 11 key projects in the next three years, six of which are fungicide projects. The guiding opinions announce that Shandong will greatly expand capacity of fungicides, nematocide and virus inhibitor in the near future, especially those applied on vegetables, landscape plants, flowers, etc.

Guiding opinions on pesticide industry

Shandong government released the ‘Guiding opinions on adjustment & promotion of pesticide industry in Shandong (2009-2011)’ (Guiding opinions) on May 5th 2009, which is jointly drafted by Shandong Economic and Trade Committee, Shandong Petrochemical Industry

Association and Shandong Agricultural Chemical Industry Association.

According to the guiding opinions, Shandong has set a target to increase its pesticide capacity and total sales revenue to 450,000t/a and USD3.37 billion by 2011, by building 5 large-scale pesticide production bases in Qingdao, Binzhou, etc. and boosting 11 key projects, including 6 fungicide projects(Table 16). Shandong government will give a lot of supports to these projects, like providing tax favor, reinforcing pesticide technology research, building new pesticide plants, setting up more pesticide brands, etc.

Production Situation and problems in fungicide industry of Shandong

At present, fungicide industry

in Shandong faces problems like low production capacity and slow development. Based on statistics of 55 market-dominating pesticide producers listed in the guiding opinions, total pesticide capacity of Shandong reached 194,100 t/a in 2008, up 15.3% over 2007. However, fungicide capacity is only 2,500 t/a in 2008, taking up only 1.29% of the total pesticide capacity, drop 33.3% compared with 3,360 t/a in 2007.

Besides, the statistics also show that market proportion of insecticides, herbicides and fungicides was 31:68:1 in 2008, much different from 48:50:2 in 2007. The change shows that producers had paid more attention to herbicides than fungicides, maybe mainly due to the soaring price of glyphosate in 2008. Insufficient funds injected in technical research and production has led to smaller

TABLE 16: 11 key pesticide projects boosted in Shandong by 2011

Company Projects

1 Shandong Binnong Technology Co., Ltd.(Shandong Binnong)

1,000t/a s-metolachlor TC;200t/a mesotrione TC;

500t/a pyraclostrobin TC

2 Shandong Cynda Chemical (Group) Co., Ltd.(Cynda)

50t/a pyraflufen-ethyl TC;2,500t/a 2% pyraflufen-ethy SC;

2,000t/a bentazone TC;4,200t/a 48% bentazone AS

3 Shandong Sino-Agri United Biotechnology Co., Ltd.(Sino-Agri United) 2,000t/a acetamiprid TC

4 Shandong Qiaochang Chemical Co., Ltd. (Qiaochang Chemical)

500t/a ZJ0777 TC;2,500t/a ZJ0777 formulation;

1,000t/a ZJ2211 TC;6,500t/a ZJ2211 formulation

5 Shandong Dacheng Pesticide Co., Ltd.Spinosad;

kresoxim-methyl6 Qingdao Hailir Pesticides and Chemicals Co., Ltd. (Hailir) 3,000t/a imidacloprid TC7 Jinan Luba Chemicals Co., Ltd. (Luba) Haloxyfop-P-methyl

8 Rushan Hanwei Biological Sci-Tech Co., Ltd. Polyoxin;Kasugamycin

9 Shandong HuaYang Technology Co., Ltd. Tebuconazole10 Shandong Vicome Lunan Pesticide Co., Ltd. (Vicome) Methy ethyl phoxim11 Zhaoyuan Sanlian Chemicals Group Company 100t/a Propiconazole

Source: Shandong provincial government

Note: Those with yellow background refer to fungicide projects

http://www.fi365.cn/dict/showdictionary.asp?id=4775



Wheat leaf rust outbreak in Henan

■ News in brief

capacity and few fungicide product varieties.

Survey on the projects

CCM has conducted a survey to find out the latest information.

Ms. Sun from foreign trade department of Zhaoyuan Sanlian Chemicals Group Company claimed that the company has already set up a 150t/a production line for propiconazole, achieving output of 100 tonnes in 2008; while Mr. Fan, sales manager from Shandong HuaYang Technology Co., Ltd. claimed that his company has a 300t/a production line of tebuconazole formulation. Neither of the two

companies have intention to expand capacity at present.

According to Mr. Qi, Sales manager from Shandong Binnong Technology Co., Ltd., the company has no fungicide production right now, but it has planned to launch a 500t/a pyraclostrobin production line. The product is still under research without registration. ZJ2211 technical and formulation of Shandong Qiaochang Chemical Co., Ltd. are under research as well.

Forecast

Based on the survey, 4 of the 6 fungicide projects are still under research stage and only two have

been carried out. It is predicted that the 4 projects under research won’t be carried out in a short time. ‘These projects are all three-year plans, reported by producers themselves with governmental conduction. It is not sure whether they will be carried out,’ Said Mr. Hou from Shandong Pesticide Industry Association.

‘Besides, led by the government policies, fungicide industry in Shandong may make progress in the future, but the market proportion of pesticides won’t change greatly. Fungicide is still weakness of Shandong pesticide industry,’ Said Mr. Hou.

Besides wheat stripe rust and powdery mildew, wheat leaf rust also occurs in large-scale in Henan. Owing to sufficient rainfall in May, wheat leaf rust stricken area has accumulated to about 701,300 hectares in late May, up 299.8% compared with 233,900 hectares in the same period of last year.

Guangdong enters peak season of rice diseases

Guangdong has entered peak season for rice disease control. Owing to wide-range rainfall since mid May, accumulative rich blast and sheath blight stricken areas have reached 200,000 hectares and 1,000,000 hectares respectively. Guangdong is making great efforts to prevent and treat rice diseases.

Registration situation of flutriafol technical in China

As of 25 May 2009, 8 companies have registered flutriafol technical, with 7 from Jiangsu and 1 from Zhejiang (Table 17). As a systemic fungicide with low toxicity, flutriafol has high effect against diseases caused by basidiomycetes and ascomycetes, such as wheat rust and powdery mildew.

TABLE 17: Registration situation of flutriafol technical in China

Fungicide A�I� content First registration Registration Company

Flutriafol Technical 95%

2007 Jiangsu Repont Pesticide Factory

2008 Jiangsu Fengdeng Pesticide Co., Ltd

2008 Jiangsu Seven continent Green Chemical Co.,Ltd.

2008 Jinagsu Yancheng Limin Agrochemical Co., Ltd

2008 Zhejiang Sega Science and Technology Co.,Ltd

2009 Jiangsu Jiannong Agrochemical Co., Ltd

2009 Jiangsu Zhangjiagang Tianheng Chemical Co., Ltd.

2009 Jiangsu Sheyang Huanghai Pesticide Chemical Co., Ltd.

Source: ICAMA



Jiangsu Limin’s 100t/a difenoconazole project to launch in July

Jiangsu Limin Chemical Company (Jiangsu Limin)’s 100t/a difenoconazole production line, initiated construction in March 2008, has passed the examination by Xuzhou Administration Bureau of Safety Working on 25 May 2009. The production line will be formally launched in July.

Global Crop Protection Summit- will be launched at the George Hotel of Edinburgh, Scotland, UK on 15 - 17 September 2009.Contact us for detailed programs

Ready Reports:- World Outlook of Glyphosate 2009-2014 - Survey of Glufosinate in China - IDAN Survey in China - The Survey of Fipronil in China

Coming Reports from CCM:- Trade report on Prochloraz- Trade report on Flutriafol

- Crop Protection China Report (update, 2nd edition): Sep/Oct 2009- The Future of Green Biotechnology in China: Aug 2009

Trade Analysis on Products:- Chlorothalonil- Flutriafol- Prochloraz

CCM newsletters related to Fungicides:- Crop Protection China News- Herbicides China News- Insecticides China News- Glyphosate China Monthly Report

http://www.cnchemicals.com/maindocs/contactus.shtml

http://www.cnchemicals.com/maindocs/conferences/2009/GlobalCropProtectionSummit/main-cropprotectionChina.shtml

http://www.cnchemicals.com/reports/0006G005/0006G005_1_glyphosate.shtml

http://www.cnchemicals.com/reports/0008I006/0008I006_1_iminodiacetonitrile(idan).shtml

http://www.cnchemicals.com/reports/0006F004/0006F004_1_fipronil.shtml

http://www.cnchemicals.com/maindocs/newsletters/samples/China Crop Protection News-flyer.pdf

http://www.cnchemicals.com/maindocs/newsletters/samples/China Herbicide News-flyer.pdf

http://www.cnchemicals.com/sets/newsletters/newsletters.htm

http://www.cnchemicals.com/maindocs/newsletters/samples/Glyphosate China Monthly Report.pdf

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