Plant extract industry: experiencing cold winter and warm spring

Plant extract industry is one of the fastest growing export industries of traditional Chinese medicine in China In the past 20 years, the export of plant extract has maintained a high growth rate According to customs statistics, in the first quarter of this year, China's import and export of plant extracts reached 410 million US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 12.1%; among them, the export reached 330 million US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 11.2%, accounting for 47% of the export of traditional Chinese medicine products Plant extracts continue to maintain a large proportion in the export of traditional Chinese medicine products Yu Zhibin, deputy director of the traditional Chinese Medicine Department of the chamber of Commerce for the import and export of health care products of China Pharmaceutical (600056, Guba), said that in the first quarter of this year, the export market of plant extracts in China was volatile and rebounded, the export market of traditional plant extracts was stable and rising, and the ASEAN market was strong and rebounded, which made the industry see the hope of blooming after the cold winter of 2012 According to the growth statistics of traditional export market, the export volume of plant extracts to the United States and Japan in the first quarter was 70.274 million US dollars and 49.39 million US dollars, with an increase of 26.9% and 7.2% respectively As the traditional market of plant extract export in China and the two largest markets, the growth rate of plant extract import from China in the United States and Japan slowed down slightly in the first quarter of this year, but still maintained the growth trend, especially the growth rate of plant extract export from China to the United States remained at a high level According to Yu Zhibin, taking dietary supplements has become the lifestyle of most Americans, which has also led to the growth of demand for plant extracts in the world's largest dietary supplement market Compared with the steady growth trend in the United States, in the first quarter, the growth of my export of plant extracts to Japan showed a downward trend, only about 1 / 4 of the same period last year The strong recovery of ASEAN market, represented by Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand, is worthy of attention In the first quarter, China's export of plant extracts to ASEAN increased by 67.6% year on year, reaching US $37.747 million Among them, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia plant extract Market Performance eye-catching, China's plant extract exports to the above countries are more than 100% The increase of exports to Malaysia is 224.3%, which is mainly due to the sharp increase of my exports of Stevia extract to Malaysia ASEAN countries have a huge population base and huge consumption potential for food and spices, which will play a positive role in promoting the export of plant extracts in China The export of pigment products recovered slowly in the first quarter of this year, and the Latin American plant extract Market represented by Mexico and Brazil showed a weak trend China's export of plant extracts to Mexico amounted to $7.104 million, down 67% from $21.615 million in the same period last year Brazil's market is no exception In the first quarter, the export volume of plant extracts to Brazil was 4.534 million US dollars, down 38.8% The year-on-year decline in exports to Mexico is still due to the subsequent impact of last year's customs code classification adjustment on natural pigment exports Although the export of Capsicum pigment is blocked under the coordination of the medical insurance chamber of Commerce, the impact on the export market has not been completely eliminated According to Yu Zhibin, in order to fundamentally solve the problem of unclear commodity classification of plant extract products in customs declaration and export, the chamber of Commerce of medical insurance and the General Administration of customs have carried out a special study, and have started to work together to prepare the manual of pharmaceutical commodity classification, which involves more than 600 kinds of plant extract products On the one hand, it can guide pharmaceutical enterprises to declare customs, on the other hand, it is convenient for Customs personnel to consult and avoid disputes Yu Zhibin told reporters that despite the slowdown of global economic growth and many difficulties in the development of the industry, plant extract, as a rigid demand product, has an increasingly obvious international competitive advantage With the promotion of the integration of domestic and foreign trade of healthy products, a variety of channels in the two markets at home and abroad will jointly promote the rapid development of plant extract industry.