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China joins the fast lane

Chinese chemical industry ranked second among the big chemical nations
China joins the fast lane

The claims to China’s future chemical markets are currently being staked. No other chemical nation anywhere in the world is growing at such a breathtaking pace. In the last two years alone, sales by the chemical industry of the People’s Republic increased by almost seventy billion euros. After remaining virtually unchanged for two whole decades, the leading group in the global country rankings is now experiencing a major shake-up. The most powerful drivers behind the huge demand for chemical products are the automotive, construction, electrical, telecommunications and agriculture sectors.

With sales of 205 billion euros in 2006, China has now climbed to the number two position among chemical nations – overtaking Japan (195 billion euros), its strongest competitor in the South-East Asia region. A change at the top is unlikely for the time being, however: with sales totalling 508 billion euros, the US is in an altogether different league. Back in 2005, China already dislodged European champion Germany from the number three spot in the international table. This is just a foretaste of the comprehensive industry data crammed into the latest version of the “Portrait of the chemical industry” flyer, published once a year in Frankfurt by the German Chemical Industry Association (VCI).
Chemical manufacturers in Germany have likewise profited from the industry’s expansion in China, as confirmed by the development of external trade with chemical products between the two countries: during the nineties, imports of these products from China regularly exceeded Germany’s exports to the People’s Republic – although the difference was only small. The tide turned in the year 2000, when German industry recorded a positive foreign trade balance with exports of 780 million euros for the very first time. Since then, both the volume and the surplus of external trade have been growing steadily bigger. Last year, for instance, German manufacturers’ books showed a surplus of more than 450 million euros thanks to exports of chemical products to China in excess of 2.2 billion. Whereas German companies mainly supply high-quality polymers as well as fine or speciality chemicals to China, in the opposite direction the People’s Republic sells predominantly pharmaceutical basic materials.
According to a forecast by DB Research up to the year 2015, China’s expansion is almost certain to continue unbroken owing to its booming customer sectors. An average annual growth of 10% up to 430.2 billion euros is predicted. The EU is expected to achieve sales of around 894.2 billion in the same period. Alongside the rocketing sales volume, structural changes are the key drivers of China’s unprecedented demand. For some time now, quality has also been a criterion rather than simply quantity. In contrast to the olden days, when chemical basic products were easily the most important segment, midstream and downstream products are now increasingly popular. This growing diversification of demand is meanwhile creating new markets, notably for manufacturers of speciality chemicals.
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