For countries along the "Belt and Road", what are our chemical export opportunities

At present, the scale and homogenization of China's chemical industry are more serious, the risk of surplus is gradually increasing, and many leading enterprises and traders are actively exploring overseas markets
.

At this stage, most of China's exports of chemicals are concentrated in China's neighboring countries and countries that have established friendly diplomatic relations, mainly Southeast Asia and countries
along the "Belt and Road".

Figure 1 Roadmap for regional cooperation along the Belt and Road

Image source: China Daily

According to customs data, China's chemical exports to countries along the Belt and Road have the following characteristics
.

First, Southeast Asian countries are important exporters of polyolefin products in China

According to the types of products exported to China to countries along the "Belt and Road", China's exports of chemicals, mainly basic chemicals and daily chemicals, such as Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, etc.

Figure 2 Analysis of the proportion of polypropylene exports in China

In addition, since the export of polyolefins according to China's customs statistics will pass through Hong Kong and Taiwan Province of China, according to the final consumption area of polyolefin products, most of the polyolefins in these two regions will still flow to the Southeast Asian market
.

With low labor costs, Southeast Asia has launched many plastic products processing enterprises
.

Figure 3 Flow map of China's polyolefin export resources

Note: Taiwan and Hong Kong are provinces and cities in China, and the map is indicated to mark the location of the export route, not to be juxtaposed with other countries

Second, China's exports to West Asian and Central Asian countries are mainly chemical fiber supplies and daily chemicals

According to the statistics of China's exports to West Asia and important countries, the types of chemicals exported are mainly
chemical fiber supplies and basic chemicals.

In addition, China also exports a certain amount of polyester staple fiber and spandex to Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and other countries
.

Many countries in West Asia and Central Asia have weak economic strength, low domestic industrial level, and insufficient supply of basic chemicals and need more import supplements
.

Third, the "Belt and Road" is profoundly affecting the export logic of China's chemical industry

Domestic regions and petrochemical enterprises have more and more economic interaction with the "Belt and Road" countries, and the ties are getting closer and closer
.

From January to August 2022, the import and export of Nanchang in Jiangxi to countries along the "Belt and Road" increased by 77.
7% year-on-year, accounting for 29.
7%
of Nanchang's total foreign trade.

In early April 2022, the COSCO Foss freighter carrying 148.
5 tons of Sinochem Quanzhou petrochemical polyethylene products left Xiamen Port and sailed for Thailand, marking the successful completion of Sinochem's first export order for
polyolefin products in 2022.

Since 2018, Baling Petrochemical has taken the lead in opening up the export market of SIS and SEBS exported to India, and exports have shown a growing trend
in recent years.

At the end of 2021, Zhongtai Group's Meike Chemical Liquid Chemicals BDO International Railway Export Special Train was launched for the first time, opening up the land passage for the transportation of liquid chemicals in tank containers between China and Europe, and opening up the European market
for liquid chemicals.

With the deepening of cooperation between China and countries along the "Belt and Road", China's chemical industry export market is undergoing a huge transformation
.
On the one hand, in the future, there will be more types of chemicals exported in the future, the amount will be larger, and the individual needs of the corresponding countries will be better
met.
On the other hand, the target market choice for China's chemical exports will shift from value selection to consumption choice, from the flow trend logic relying on export arbitrage to the flow trend logic
supported by the consumer market.
The third is that countries along the "Belt and Road", especially Southeast Asia and West Asian countries, will likely become China's largest export consumer market in the future, relying on the "China-Europe express train" and "manufacturing transfer" megatrends to support the long-term export
of China's chemical industry.