According to statistics from China Customs, in the first half of 2011, the export volume of hormonal APIs was 419.58 tons, a decrease of 5.29% year-on-year; the export amount was 297 million US dollars, an increase of 15.98% year-on-year.

Tianjin company leader

The trade of hormonal bulk drugs is mainly general trade. According to statistics from China Customs, in the first half of 2011, the export volume of general trade accounted for 99.07% of the export value of hormonal APIs, while the export value of processing trade accounted for only 0.75%.

State-owned and private enterprises have become the main force for exports. According to the statistics of China Customs, in the first half of 2011, among the total export value, the export value of state-owned and private enterprises accounted for 73.2%, which became the main force in the export market. Among them, private enterprises accounted for 50.68% of exports, and they hold half of the market share.

Coastal provinces lead the export of hormone products. According to statistics from China Customs, Zhejiang, Tianjin, Jiangsu, Shanghai and Shandong rank among the top five exporters of hormonal products in the first half of 2011. A total of 341 hormonal APIs were exported and 1/3 of them were distributed in Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Tianjin. There are 16 pharmaceutical companies operating in Tianjin, accounting for only 4.6% of the total number of exporting enterprises in the country. The number and amount of exports are among the highest in the country. As an important production base for hormonal APIs in China, Tianjin’s contribution to export development is very clear.

Successfully develop new markets

In the export market for hormonal APIs, markets in Asia and Europe are equally divided. According to statistics from China Customs, in the first half of 2011, the main export markets for Chinese hormonal APIs were Asia and Europe. Among them, exports to Asia were US$116 million, an increase of 15.85% year-on-year; exports to Europe were US$118 million, a year-on-year increase of 16.73%. The total amount of exports to the two major regions of Asia and Europe was 234 million U.S. dollars, accounting for 78.57% of China's total export of hormonal APIs. Moreover, the export market is also very concentrated, with both Asian and European markets accounting for about 40% of the total amount.

The export of Chinese hormonal APIs to emerging markets has maintained a steady growth. The emerging export markets of Latin America as a raw material for hormones have been developing well in recent years. In the first half of 2011, China's exports of hormonal APIs to major Latin American countries all experienced significant growth. Among them, the amount of exports to Brazil was US$7.818 million, which was a year-on-year increase of 33.25%. The amount of exports to Argentina was US$3.88272 million, an increase of 51.36% year-on-year.

In 2008, the global financial crisis raided China’s export of hormonal APIs. In order to get rid of the crisis, companies actively explore markets in emerging countries such as Latin America and Africa, and their market share has steadily increased. This not only expands China’s hormonal APIs. The scale of the export market has also improved the company's ability to resist risks.

Hydrocortisone and dexamethasone are the major varieties of hormonal raw materials exported in China, and their trade accounts for 1/3 of the total export volume of hormonal APIs. According to statistics from China Customs, in the first half of 2011, the export amount of hydrocortisone was US$82.626 million, which was a year-on-year increase of 34.15%. The export value of dexamethasone was US$18.048 million, which was a decrease of 4.15% from the same period last year. As environmental protection requirements increased, the price of upstream raw materials rose, and the export prices of hydrocortisone and dexamethasone continued to rise. Among them, the average unit price of hydrocortisone exports increased by 20.49% year-on-year.

Export growth is no suspense

In the past two years, with the continuous recovery of the international economy, China's exports of hormonal APIs have shown a good momentum of growth, gradually escaping the crisis.

By the first half of 2011, the export market has fully recovered, and the market size of major export varieties has continued to expand. The annual export growth has become a foregone conclusion.

It is worth noting that in the market's positive situation, there are still hidden concerns. Affected by factors such as rising raw materials, rising costs, and changes in exchange rates, the operating profits of China's exporters of hormonal APIs will be squeezed. At the same time, domestic companies have problems such as low raw material utilization, energy consumption and environmental pollution, and ineffective use of by-products, which will continue to plague China's hormonal API manufacturers, and will become an urgent problem for the industry in the future.