Recently Germany
announced that it would phase out glyphosate and ban GM crops. However,
according to CCM, this will not pose a great impact on China's glyphosate
export business.
The
European Union had voted to relicense the controversial herbicide glyphosate,
marketed as Roundup by agrochemical giant Monsanto, for another five years.
Germany was actually a key nation to swing the vote in November 2017 extending
its use across the European Union.
As
the two parties in Germany, CDU and SPD, are agreeing to more points in order
to form a big coalition and govern the country for the next years under
Chancellor Angela Merkel, the ban of glyphosate usage, among GMO crops, in the
country was one of the terms agreed on recently. It is one of the conditions by
Martin Schulz and his social-democratic party.
According
to the former agriculture minister Christian Schmidt, after the controversial
renewal of the famous weed killer’s EU approval, its usage will be limited in
Germany. However, the time frame for the phase-down is not specified yet.
Hence, there is no official set date for an end to using the controversial
herbicide glyphosate in Germany.
Germany
had unexpectedly backed a European Commission proposal to permit the use of
glyphosate for the next five years despite a heated debate over whether it causes
cancer. The vote effectively allowed the extension of glyphosate use in the
face of opposition from other leading European countries like France as well as
the own coalition party SPD in Germany’s government.
Besides
the agreement of glyphosate, other agricultural policies agreed for the new
government include a formalisation of the current ban on growing crops
containing genetically modified organisms in Germany and an expansion of
organic farming.
The
biggest obstacle in the efforts will be to find alternatives to glyphosate,
which could involve new forms of herbicides or new methods of farming.
The
move to Germany is also a significant setback for Monsanto, the company that
produced and market glyphosate under the name Round-up. The enterprise has
already gained a massive foothold in the world seeds and agrochemical market,
even as several countries in Europe have considered glyphosate bans, on the
heels of widespread GMO crop cultivation bans. But with a pending merger with
its German counterpart and pharmaceutical giant Bayer on the horizon, the
company still has hopes of expanding its influence.
Besides
Germany, other European countries also plan to withdraw from the use of
glyphosate. France and Italy carry through their plans to ban glyphosate, for
example. The two countries announced that they would ban the controversial weed
killer by 2020.
According
to insiders’ opinion, Europe’s alternative to glyphosate is based on pelargonic
acid, a naturally occurring chemical found in a host of plants. The primary
manufacturer is a business called Jade based on the outskirts of Bordeaux in
France.
Pelargonic
acid has been widely used in weedkiller for years but at very low percentages.
The new generation of bioherbicides in Italy and France contain approximately
70% of this substance. Other European companies also produce similar herbicides
using pelargonic acid but with lower levels.
According
to market intelligence firm CCM, this won't pose a negative impact on
China's glyphosate export business, as China only exported 0.15% of its
glyphosate to German, mainly glyphosate 95% TC and glyphosate 41% IPA. In 2017,
Hubei Trisun Chemical, Sichuan Fuhua Tongda Agro-chemical, Jiangsu Good
Harvest-Weien Agrochemical, CAC Nantong Chemical and Shanghai Hujiang
Biochemistry. had exported glyphosate to German.
Glyphosate
is the largest export commodity in China’s pesticide segment. For that, China's
glyphosate industry highly depends on the overseas market, exporting about 85%
of its output.
The
major export destinations of Chinese glyphosate technical are Argentina, the
USA, Brazil, Malaysia, and Indonesia while the major destinations of glyphosate
formulations are Thailand, Australia, Vietnam, the USA, and Ghana. Hence, the
EU is neither part of China’s most important glyphosate technical nor
glyphosate formulations exports. Changes in the European Union therefore only
have a small impact on the export situation in China.
After
all, only about 10% of global glyphosate demand is coming from Europe, far behind
other relevant markets like South America, North America, and Asia-Pacific.
About the article
The
information for this article comes from CCM, China’s leading market
intelligence provider for the fields of agriculture, chemicals, food and feed.
To
keep updated on China’s glyphosate market, have a look at China’s monthly
published Glyphosate Newsletter with insights in market news, company
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