The current situation of China's API export: though the situation turns better, the obstacles still need to be cleared

[China Pharmaceutical network market analysis] the pace of development of domestic pharmaceutical industry is gradually accelerating, and more and more pharmaceutical products are going out to the world In terms of the export of pharmaceutical products, the volume and price of APIs are rising The author understands that in 2017, the export volume of APIs reached 8.9615 million tons, a record high, with a year-on-year increase of 8.33%; the average export price rebounded, with a year-on-year increase of 4.96%, and compared with the previous year, the price recovered The good situation of API export can not be separated from the credit of pharmaceutical enterprises Recently, China Chamber of Commerce for the import and export of pharmaceutical and health care products released the list of top 50 raw material drug export enterprises in 2017 Among them, Sinopharm group, PLO Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd (hereinafter referred to as "PLO pharmaceutical") and Zhejiang Huahai Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd (hereinafter referred to as "Huahai pharmaceutical") are the top three For the advantages of top 50 enterprises in API export, some experts summarized these reasons: external situation, enterprise foundation, core technology and products In terms of external situation, environmental protection is a major obstacle for API enterprises Currently, the environmental protection supervision situation is severe, and the overcapacity of related products has changed, such as vitamins The author has learned that Shiyao group has an advantage in the export of APIs, while under the leadership of environmental protection, the vitamin products of Shiyao group have gained good results It is reported that the export volume of vitamin C of Shiyao group has exceeded US $200 million, with a year-on-year increase of more than 50% In terms of enterprise foundation, expert analysis shows that many enterprises in the list have a solid foundation of API production, and take this advantage to extend to other businesses, such as PLO pharmaceutical It is reported that with a good foundation, PLO pharmaceutical is actively producing APIs and extending its tentacles to the pharmaceutical market In terms of core technology and products, API enterprises have advantages that can not be ignored For example, Huahai Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., Shanghai chuangnio Pharmaceutical Group, UL International Holding Co., Ltd., Zhejiang Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., etc actively build core products, and increase the R & D of production process, so as to occupy a large market share in API export enterprises In this case, even though it is subject to strict supervision and anti-dumping investigation, the enterprise still maintains its advantages The above factors let API enterprises release their advantages, and also let the number of domestic API exports continue to increase However, according to the relevant data, although there are 32 enterprises whose export value of API exceeds US $100 million and 107 enterprises whose export value exceeds US $50 million, the concentration of API export enterprises is still low when China has 11000 API export enterprises In addition to the low concentration of API export enterprises, there are several major issues that need attention , overcapacity There are more and more API enterprises, many of which are still building production bases on a large scale and expanding production capacity blindly Although the situation has eased in the near future, the problem of overcapacity is still serious at this stage Second, international standards have been raised China is a big producer of APIs, and its products will be exported to various countries, and the standards for APIs in each country are different Therefore, it is necessary for Chinese APIs to meet the requirements when they enter the markets of various countries For example, if some APIs want to enter the U.S market or European market, they need relevant documents and certificates The United States needs DMF documents while Europe needs cos certificates Not only that, API products should meet the international GMP specifications, documents that meet the requirements of relevant pharmaceutical laws and regulations, and these requirements will only be more stringent Third, the transformation ability of API products is weak Industry insiders said that the API products exported by China are still at the bottom of the value chain, and there is still a big gap between the domestic API production technology level and other countries The author has learned that some European enterprises have transformed to R & D and production of characteristic APIs, and gradually occupy the API market In this way, the transformation process of local API enterprises is still difficult In general, China's API export trend is getting better and better, and the advantages of enterprises in production process, production scale, quality standard identification and other aspects are gradually prominent, and can meet the needs of different customers However, the rapid development of foreign enterprises can not be ignored In order to cope with fierce competition, local enterprises should optimize production technology, promote green innovation, and overcome technical barriers by increasing technical input and attaching importance to talents In addition, enterprises should speed up structural upgrading, improve competitive advantage, actively develop emerging markets, expand sales channels, and use stronger strength to deal with external challenges.