October 16, 1998
Pesticide Updates -- Asia
The following summaries are based on reports in "Agrow: World
Crop Protection News," a bi-weekly magazine reporting on
agrochemical industry activities around the world.
-- China: Experts predict that China will produce over
350,000 tons of pesticides in 1998, based on the first six
months of production. The increased output plus existence of
pesticide stockpiles from the previous year will likely lead
to reduced prices in the coming year. Insecticides accounted
for over 69% of all pesticides produced in the first half of
the year. Production of methyl parathion was up 39% over 1997
production figures during this same period. Analysts
currently value the Chinese agrochemical market at
approximately US$1 billion.
-- India: Sales of pesticides in India are expected to
increase at least 5% to 8% in 1998. In 1997, sales declined
by 13% as a result of crop failures due to adverse weather.
The cotton crop, one of the most pesticide intensive crops,
was particularly affected.
Indian production of technical grade* pesticides fell
approximately 13% to 82,500 tons in 1997/98. However, output
is expected to increase to 90,100 tons in 1998/99, according
to forecasts by the Indian Ministry of Chemicals and
Fertilizers. Figures from the Ministry show that India
produced 4,100 tons of DDT in 1996/97 and that 4,200 tons
would be produced in 1997/98. The Ministry predicts that
production of monocrotophos and endosulfan would reach 12,000
tons and 8,700 tons respectively in 1997/98. A sharp increase
in the number of Indian pesticide manufacturers led to over
production of many technical grade pesticides, causing prices
of several key insecticides to fall as much as 50%.
The Indian government imposed an 18% duty on imports of
technical grade pesticides, a move that was condemned by the
Indian agrochemical industry. Industry claims that small-
scale pesticide formulators will be forced to close and that
pesticide prices will increase. Duty on biopesticides,
however, was cut from 30% to 5% in an attempt by the
government to encourage farmers to use less toxic pest
control methods.
-- South Korea: Due to the strength of the U.S. dollar,
pesticide sales fell by 22% to US$548 million in 1997.
However, the volume of active ingredients sold remained
constant. Insecticides accounted for nearly 37% of sales by
volume, followed by fungicides at 30% and herbicides at 24%.
Earlier this year, the South Korean government announced
plans to reduce pesticide use by 50% by 2004. The government
announced that pesticide reduction would be part of a wide-
ranging reform of Korea's agriculture sector that would
include promoting farming methods that have less impact on
the environment.
-- Thailand: Pesticide sales are expected to fall about 10%
in 1998, according to the Thai Crop Protection Association.
In 1997, the volume of sales fell by over 10% to almost
50,000 tons due to a drought during the first half of the
year. Herbicides accounted for 52% of sales. Some of the most
widely-used pesticides in Thailand are paraquat, glyphosate,
atrazine and synthetic pyrethroids.
-- Vietnam: Agrochemical sales rose by 22% in 1997 to US$109
million, up from US$89.5 million in the previous year. The
rise was due to an increase in cultivated acreage as well as
high pest pressure. Volume of sales dropped, however, as
farmers switched to lower volume products. Insecticides
accounted for 48% of sales.
* Technical grade pesticides are pesticide chemicals in a
pure form (usually 95% to 100% active ingredient). The
chemical is then formulated into pesticide products such as
wettable powders, dusts, emulsifiable concentrates, granules,
etc.
Sources: Agrow: World Crop Protection News, June 26, August
14, August 28, and September 18, 1998.
Contact: PANNA.
======================================================
Pesticide Action Network North America (PANNA)
49 Powell St., Suite 500, San Francisco, California 94102
Phone (415) 981-1771
Fax (415) 981-1991
Email: panna@panna.org
web site www.panna.org/panna/
To subscribe to PANUPS, email to majordomo@igc.org with the
following text on one line: subscribe panups
To unsubscribe send the following: unsubscribe panups
======================================================
To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with "unsubscribe sanet-mg".
To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command
"subscribe sanet-mg-digest".