Since joining the WTO in 2001, the growth of China’s chemical industry has grown together with the overall economy, developing at a rapid pace. By 2006, The total trade value of petroleum and chemical products had achieved US $171.55 billion, marking a year-by-year increase of 27%, with an increase of 19.3% in exports over the previous year.
Across this very diverse and varying industry, there has been rapid change particularly with the exports of organic chemicals and imports of inorganic chemicals seeing the most drastic increases. As of the close of 2010, China has become the second biggest ethylene manufacturing nation and the second biggest oil and chemicals consuming nation in the world. Meanwhile, rubber based chemicals and compounds are being imported at a rising rate as rubber based product exports are seeing growth. This dynamic is most likely the result of the need to support the input needs of China’s resource hungry manufacturing industry. The other sectors of the chemical industry that have had the biggest impact include trade in fertilizer chemicals, pesticides and herbicides, and paints, pigments and dyes. With all these sectors experiencing such vigorous growth, it is clear that the chemical industry is in the midst of China’s transfer to high-value added manufacturing away from the low value manufacturing and raw material exports of the past. Furthermore, as pressure on the RMB to appreciate continues, China will have to rely more on a domestic market as its industry continues to develop.
At CPG, we have been working hard in conjunction with this vibrant industry to provide reliable sourcing services. Our primary focus in the past has been sourcing chemicals such as: Chemical Dyes, Paint and Color Sectors, Urea, and Beta Napthol.