| By Cindy Wu, Asia Manufacturing Pharma |
| Monday, 28 September 2009 |
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The price for penicillin industrial salt quoted by leading Chinese pharmaceutical manufacturer Shijiazhuang Pharmaceutical Group recently rose another notch to RMB55 (US$8.1) per BOU following a slight increase while the export price increased from US$6.8 to US$7 per BOU. Meanwhile, prices for 6-APA and 7-ACA are also on the increase. Due to the impact of the economic downturn, China’s demand for penicillin industrial salt has declined since the first half of this year, on top of a sharp decrease in export volume.
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Accordingly, pharmaceutical makers in the country
continued to reduce or stopped production or to shift to the downstream sector, with the result that the product is in short supply.
For example, Harbin Pharmaceutical Group, a leading penicillin industrial salt maker based in Heilongjiang province, is completely out of stock, while Hebei province-based Shijiazhuang Pharmaceutical Group has begun to shift to downstream products. The short supply, together with the increased raw materials costs, ultimately caused the price for
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penicillin industrial salt to rise. The strong upward trend in the overall price is expected to continue through September, and the prices for penicillin industrial salt and downstream products are expected to return to a more reasonable range if a consensus is reached by these pharmaceutical makers.
Data from healthoo.com show that prices for penicillin industrial salt have stood around the cost line for half a year, during which the prices for 6-APA and amoxicillin dropped from RMB190 (US$28) and RMB210 (US$31) per kilogram at the beginning of the year to RMB163 (US$24) and RMB183 (US$27) per kilogram, respectively.
While the price for penicillin industrial salt is falling, sales volume of downstream products like 6-APA, amoxicillin, GCLE and 7-ADCA are increasing.
Exports of penicillin industrial salt decreased in July while exports of 6-APA, amoxicillin and 7-ADCA increased to 794 tons, 508 tons and 110 tons, respectively, according to latest statistics from healthoo.com. Bulk transactions of downstream products are still dependent on |
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international markets. India is the major destination for 6-APA and 7-ADCA, while amoxicillin are mainly exported to South America, Europe and Southeast Asia.
In contrast, penicillin industrial salt is shifting from overseas purchases to internal use by domestic pharmaceutical manufacturer as well as to domestic markets. Henan Xinxiang Huaxing Pharmaceutical Factory, the largest penicillin industrial salt maker in the country, has begun to fully shift to the downstream sector, and is expected to be one of the major 6-APA and amoxicillin makers in the future.
Harbin Pharmaceutical Group also has completed its plan of extending its portfolios to include downstream products such as cefalexin and cefradine.
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