China's export of plant extracts is booming

Business club may 17 according to the European Union "traditional botanical medicine registration procedure directive", before April 30 this year did not complete the registration of traditional Chinese medicine in accordance with the new regulations will be banned from sale Chinese patent medicine was forced to withdraw from the EU market to leave a huge growth space for China's plant extract export According to the statistics of China Customs, in the first quarter of 2011, China's import and export of plant extracts reached 310 million US dollars, up 46.4% year on year Among them, the export volume reached US $270 million, an increase of 53.4% year on year, accounting for 48.4% of the export volume of traditional Chinese medicine, and the proportion of plant extracts in the export of traditional Chinese medicine products gradually increased Experts from the Ministry of traditional Chinese medicine of China Chamber of Commerce for the import and export of medical and health products said that generally speaking, the first quarter is the off-season for the export of plant extracts, which is the trough of the whole year However, the export of plant extracts in the first quarter of this year is different from that in previous years, with a significant increase year-on-year, and the export market of plant extracts has begun to pick up Nearly 100% of imports from EU countries the United States and Japan are the traditional and largest markets for the export of plant extracts in China, representing the weather vane of the plant extracts market According to customs data, exports to the United States and Japan in the first quarter were US $42.057 million and US $36.086 million, up 66.2% and 19.8% respectively In recent years, China's export of plant extracts to the United States has increased by about 10%; the export growth to Japan in the first two months has reached 48.3%, because of the "3.11" earthquake, the export growth showed a short-term decline In the first quarter, the EU market became the most eye-catching export market of plant extracts European Union countries, mainly Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom, import of plant extracts from China in the first quarter increased nearly or more than 100% The European Union is one of the world's largest vegetable drug markets and one of the main destinations for the export of Chinese patent medicines The provisions of EU registration procedure directive on traditional plant medicine have a great impact on domestic traditional Chinese medicine enterprises The chamber of Commerce for import and export of Chinese medicine and health care products believes that this event has advantages and disadvantages, which will leave a huge growth space for the export of plant extracts in China This is one of the main reasons why the export of plant extracts in China has doubled in the first quarter It can be predicted that the increase will continue for quite a long time in the future, and even blowout will occur Plant essential oil has become a new bright spot From the export of plant extracts in the first quarter, some potential varieties have become the new favorite of the market, and the rapid growth of emerging markets also deserves the attention of the industry In recent years, natural pigment and stevia extract have increased rapidly, becoming a more concerned plant extract variety in the industry, but few people mention another potential of plant extract, plant essential oil Plant essential oil perfume is widely used in food additives, cosmetics, Chinese patent medicine and other fields In the first quarter, the export value of plant essential oil products was US $61.952 million, an increase of 72.3% year on year, accounting for 23.3% of the export value of plant extracts Among them, eucalyptus oil export volume is the largest, with the export volume of 31.82 million US dollars in the first quarter, up 75.8% year on year At the same time, in the first quarter, four of the top ten enterprises in terms of plant extract export mainly export plant essential oil products, mostly concentrated in Yunnan, Guangdong and other places China Chamber of Commerce for the import and export of medical and health products pointed out that the export of plant extracts in the first quarter had a good start, and the positive news from all parties showed its strong growth trend It can be predicted that the export of plant extracts will set a new record in 2011 However, the future development of China's plant extract industry still faces many challenges, such as the obvious trend of global plant extract localization; the increasingly strict national environmental protection policies promote enterprises to continuously increase investment costs; a series of food safety events also give the industry a wake-up call Challenges and opportunities coexist.