Export volume of plant extracts reaches a new peak of US $1 billion

Business Club March 15 news plant extract (hereinafter referred to as "plant extract") is the fastest growing industry in the export industry of traditional Chinese medicine, which can also be said to be the "sunrise industry" forever At the end of last year, the 12th Five year development plan for the food industry jointly issued by the national development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of industry and information technology clearly stated that "the development of natural pigment and plant extract industry will be encouraged and supported, and advantageous export products will continue to be developed" In 2011, the export volume of plant extracts in China was US $1.13 billion, up 47% year on year, becoming the first commodity category of Chinese medicine export exceeding US $1 billion; the export volume was 42000 tons, up 14.9% year on year; the average export price was US $26.8/kg, up 28.2% year on year After years of development, the export of plant extract industry has exceeded US $1 billion for the first time, and thus reached a new height From the monthly statistics, the growth rate of import is obvious From January to December 2011, the amount and quantity of import and export of plant extracts in a single month fluctuated little, relatively stable However, in terms of amount and quantity, the year-on-year growth of import is obvious, while that of export is relatively flat In 2011, the import volume of plant extracts was US $220 million, up 67.8% year on year; the import volume was 18000 tons, up 59.4% year on year; the average import price was US $12.4/kg, up 5.2% year on year The import products are mainly peppermint oil and other plant essential oils, liquorice extract and other resource deficient plant extracts The import growth rate is more than 100% In 2011, except for Latin America, the export volume and export volume of other continents showed a large growth Asia, Europe and North America are still the main export regions of China's plant extracts, accounting for 82.6% of China's total plant extracts exports in 2011 ★ China's export of plant extracts to Asia was US $440 million, accounting for 39.4% of the total, with a year-on-year growth of 18.8% Among them, Japan and ASEAN are the main export markets of Asia In 2011, Japan was the second largest export market of plant extracts in China, with an export volume of 170 million US dollars As one of the most important export markets of plant extracts in China, Japan's products are mainly used in traditional Chinese medicine and health care products, with a steady growth in demand in recent years The ASEAN market is flat In 2011, China's export to ASEAN reached 107 million US dollars, down 6.71% year on year The most significant decline was in Malaysia, which was 66.5% The main reason for the decline is that the export of Stevia extract, a star product, has declined overall, and the export of two major Stevia extract exporters to Malaysia has declined by nearly 100% However, there are many bright spots in the ASEAN region Singapore and Indonesia are relatively representative countries In 2011, the export volume of the extracts from these two countries was 43 million 940 thousand US dollars and 28 million 60 thousand US dollars respectively, up 39% and 62% compared with the same period last year The products are concentrated in peppermint oil, eucalyptus oil and other plant flavors and fragrances ★ European market has a strong trend in 2011 From January to December, China's exports of plant extracts to the EU amounted to US $290 million, an increase of 63.2% year on year; the export volume was 11000 tons, an increase of 15.1% year on year; and the average export price increased by 41.8% year on year The main export countries are Spain, Germany, France and the United Kingdom Among them, Spain and Germany ranked fourth and fifth respectively in the export market of plant extracts in 2011 China's exports to Spain are mainly the pigments widely used in the field of food, while those to Germany are mostly used in the field of health products, with an increase of 76% and 57% respectively ★ North American market (or American market) is the most important export market of plant extracts in China, ranking first in the export of plant extracts for many years In 2011, China exported 180 million US dollars of plant extracts to the United States, an increase of 54% year on year; the export volume was 8050 tons, an increase of 32% year on year The largest plant extract product exported to the United States is Glycyrrhiza extract, including Glycyrrhiza extract and Glycyrrhiza salt and other Glycyrrhiza products In 2011, the export value of Glycyrrhiza extract reached US $16.64 million, an increase of 36.7% year on year In addition, the health-care plant extract products are still the main products in the U.S market Taking dietary supplements has become a daily habit of most Americans, which has also led to an increase in the demand for plant extracts in the world's largest dietary supplement market The U.S market has become the wind vane of global medical and health care plant extracts, and the increase and decrease of its demand will directly affect the changes of other global markets The advantage of industrial cluster is obvious in 2011 There are 1402 plant extract export enterprises in China, a small increase compared with 1365 enterprises last year Among them, private enterprises are the main force of export, accounting for more than 56%; foreign-funded enterprises account for 32%; state-owned enterprises account for only 11% of the total export volume In 2011, the export volume of the top 10 enterprises of plant extracts accounted for 33%, slightly lower than that of last year's top 10 enterprises (35%), and the threshold of the top 10 enterprises rose from $16.14 million to $22.19 million The overall level of the industry has slightly improved From the export situation of provinces and cities, the export of plant extracts has obvious characteristics of industrial clusters The top five export provinces are Shandong, Yunnan, Shanghai, Hebei and Zhejiang The top ranked provinces and cities have the advantages of industrial clusters and regional foreign trade For example, because of the special plant resources and climatic conditions, Yunnan has obvious advantages in the field of plant pigment and flavor and flavor products processing Shandong has advantages in resources such as Stevia extract, fragrance and other industries, plus port trade advantages, so many enterprises are ranked at the forefront of export In the same way, Hebei has formed a pigment industry cluster represented by morninglight biology, which has the advantages of cluster development It can be seen that China's plant extract industry has gradually formed a trend of industrial cluster led by large enterprises, and the industry development has become increasingly healthy In 2011, the export volume and quantity of most kinds of plant extracts showed a steady growth trend The export of several plant extracts with a separate customs code showed different degrees of growth, such as: eucalyptus oil (export volume was US $110 million, up 26% year-on-year), glycyrrhizin (US $33.14 million, 17.5%), rutin and its derivatives (US $29.6 million, 87.5%), liquorice juice and extract (US $25.33 million, 28.3%), etc According to the purpose, the products can be classified into categories of medicine and health care, food additives, flavors and fragrances, cosmetics and so on Among them, food additive extracts have been increasing in recent years, the main reason is that the global demand for natural pigment products is increasing in recent years, and synthetic pigments are gradually replaced by natural pigments, such as capsanthin, lutein, curcumin and so on, which have become the best-selling products in the field of global food additives In recent years, the demand for medicine and health care products, as the traditional superior products in China, has been stable In addition, the export of flavor and fragrance has become a "dark horse" trend The export enterprises dominated by such products have risen rapidly in recent years, unexpected winner's special attention Stevia extract is still the most noteworthy single variety in the industry After rapid growth in recent years, Stevia rebaudiana has developed into one of the most important plant extract products, and several major domestic enterprises with Stevia rebaudiana rebaudiana extract as their main business have ranked the top for many years in a row Another good news for the stevia industry this autumn is that the EU has approved stevioside as a new food sweetener ingredient, which means that the EU market has been opened However, the good news still failed to change Stevia's bleakest performance Many enterprises with Stevia extract as their main business have seen a sharp decline in exports year on year There are many reasons for the decline of overseas demand For example, although Stevia extract is allowed to be used as a food additive in the EU market, laws and regulations in relevant fields are not standardized in a timely manner and fail to stimulate demand in a short period of time Prosecco, the world's largest purchaser and producer of Stevia, has established Stevia planting bases in Africa and South America respectively, reducing the demand for Stevia extract in China Stevia beverage, represented by Dr Zhang's zero calorie beverage, has not yet effectively stimulated the domestic market potential due to various reasons In the case of weak internal and external demand, stevia industry really entered a low period in 2011 However, we still believe that with the development of market potential and the growth of high-end product enterprises, stevia market is still optimistic in the future The biggest shock to the plant extract industry at the beginning of the new year is the notice of the General Administration of customs and the General Administration of quality supervision, inspection and Quarantine of the people's Republic of China on the new adjustment of the catalogue of legal inspection The regulatory conditions of plant extracts involved in the new catalogue of legal inspection are adjusted as follows: Customs HS code is 1302199099 (other plant juices and extracts), and the regulatory categories of the import and export inspection and Quarantine Bureau are newly added to the export commodity inspection (dangerous chemicals) and food hygiene supervision and inspection (food additives) on the basis of the original plant product quarantine The newly adjusted regulatory conditions will increase the cost and time of inspection In addition, as a plant extract production enterprise, if it is declared for export with food addition, it needs to conduct food hygiene supervision and inspection, and it is required to obtain food production license (QS certificate), but at present, most plant extract products cannot apply for QS certificate due to the lack of national standards Therefore, the new regulations will undoubtedly have a direct impact on the export of plant extract enterprises It can be predicted that the plant extract industry will usher in a new period of adjustment The competent authorities may borrow the whole period to improve the industry access threshold, strengthen quality supervision, and the industry may undergo a new round of reshuffle.