Pharmaceutical packaging materials to see rise in price in China
By Wen Jian, Asia-Manufacturing
Wednesday, 06 February 2008
Prices for pharmaceutical packaging materials, including empty gelatin capsules, butyl rubber stoppers for medical use and pharmaceutical glass tubes, are expected to increase in
China, mainly due to the soaring prices of upstream raw materials and energy resources, according to sources at the China Pharmaceutical Packaging Association (CPPA). For this reason, downstream drug manufacturers are paying particular attention to the upward price trend.
Data from the CPPA show that pharmaceutical gelatin, which is in short supply across the country, has experienced a price increase of RMB 10,000 (approximately US$1,391) per ton as a result of significant
increases in manufacturing costs as prices of such raw materials as pigskin and cowhide skyrocket.
An executive at a capsule manufacturer based in Qingdao, China said that the impact from manual and semi-manual products has led to a one-third excess capacity of empty capsules and dragged down the prices of machine-made ones, causing great losses to qualified machine-made capsule makers.
The standard regulating empty gelatin capsules released by the CPPA in September 2007 is expected to force some non-compliant drug makers to take their substandard products off the market, the executive noted.
However, pharmaceutical factories are still advised to remain vigilant when purchasing capsule products.
Pharmaceutical glass producers said that prices of raw materials required for production of pharmaceutical glass, such as sodium carbonate, heavy oil and natural gas, among others, have jumped 20 per cent on average, resulting in a 10 per cent climb in pricing of glass tubes since 2006.
Furthermore, prices of butyl rubber stoppers for medical use have begun to rise, driven by the tight supply of butyl rubber, the price of which has increased by RMB 10,000 (approximately US$1,391) per ton. Other pharmaceutical packaging materials including plastic products are also expected to witness sharp increases in price.
