Northwest China: New Destination for China’s Pesticide Industry Shift

In the paragraphs below are dialogues with leaders of several pesticide enterprises in Northwest China, including Qilu Pharmaceutical (Inner Mongolia) Co., Ltd. thatsettled in Inner Mongolia 10 years ago, and three new arrivers: Inner Mongolia Zhonggao Chemicals Co., Ltd., Ningxia Yifan Biotechnology Co., Ltd. and Ningxia Surongda Chemical Co., Ltd. The followingcontents will provide us an insight into the development of the parks in which these enterprises are located, their strategic plans, and how they resolvethe disadvantages of the remote northwest region.

 

 

 

Founded in 1992, Hohhot Economic and Technological Development Zone is located on the outskirt of Hohhot, and consists of Ruyi Industrial Park, Jinchuan Industrial Park and Shaerqin Industrial Park. As the capital of the autonomous region, Hohhot harbors 70% of the college resources and more than 40% of the S&Tresources in Inner Mongolia, thus representinga high-tech and talent highland of the region. 

 

In terms of natural resources, the Yellow River passes through the city, with a flow path of 37.5 kilometers long. The approved annual water withdrawal is 501 million cubic meters; the city’s total installed power capacity is 12,579,000 kilowatts. Jungar Coalfield, which is 100 kilometers away from Hohhot, has a proven reserve of 54.4 billion tons withan annual exploitation quantity of 100 million tons; Changqing Oilfield has a proven oil reserve of more than 12 billion tons, and a natural gas reserve of more than 15 trillion cubic meters, leaving a large space for subsequent development of the development zone. As the core region of Large-scale Development of Western China, Hohhot enjoysnational preferential policies,—and has also introduced many local policies and regulations. The development zone has also introduced favorable policies concerning electricity priceand resource allocation in light of its actual situations. 

 

Hohhot Economic and Technological Development Zone has by far attracted more than 2,900 enterprises, including enterprises from more than 10 countries and regions in Southeast Asia, Europe and the United States, and 132 enterprises above designated size. As of August 2019, the total industrial output value of industrial enterprises above designated size had reached14.023 billion yuan, with a year-on-year growth rateof 6.67%.

 

Established in 2009, Qilu Pharmaceutical (Inner Mongolia) Co., Ltd. is located in the south section of Jinchuan Industrial Park under Hohhot Economic and Technological Development Zone. Asa large-scale modern biopharmaceutical enterprise in China, the company has fixed assets of 2 billion yuan, 1,300 employees (60% of whom have a college degree or above), and takesa world leading position in terms of production scale. Qilu Pharmaceutical ranked 57th in the list of "Top 100 Private Enterprises in Inner Mongolia 2019" released at the 3rd Mongolia Business Conference in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region on September 18, 2019. 

 

 

According toits general managerMr. Xia of QiluPharmaceutical, the plant in Inner Mongolia coversan area of 600 acres, and mainly produces abamectin, with an annual production capacity of 3,000 tons. The company has established a strict quality control system and been applying internal quality control standards higher than international level. The abamectin fermentation workshop of Qilu Pharmaceutical is highly automated, containing 36 fermentation tanks of 500 cubic meters. Qilu Pharmaceutical has by far garnered 60% of the domestic market with its product abamectin, and has established business relationship with over 100 international companies in more than 20 countries and regions such as the United States, Europe, South America, and Southeast Asia, with the average growth rate of exports in the past three years exceeding 50%.

 

With constant input in safety and environmental protection from project construction to production, the company has by far made a total investment of 400 million yuan in environmental protection to effectively treat and recycle sewage, solid wastes and solvents. Mr. Xia said,the production plant in Inner Mongolia has spent 200 million yuan on the procurement of 117 sets of sprinklers, 11 plasma odor treatment devices and five ozone odor removal devices to improve odor treatment.“We cooperate closely with well-known Chinese research institutes and universities in researching advanced odor treatment techniques, and haveinstalled 14 biological towers that utilize biological processes to remove odor, therefore, making a breakthrough in odor treatment. Since 2018, we have gradually installed 16 online monitors that can monitor organized discharges and unorganized discharges outside the plant’s boundaries around the clock”, he said. 

 

Next, the company plans to invest 3 billion yuan in Hulun Buir, Inner Mongolia to acquire 2,000 acres of land for production of abamectin series and spinosad. Mr. Xia said that the company has achieved success in the area of fermentation odor treatment, which paves the way for the long-term production and supply of high-quality abamectin and spinosad.

 

 

Bayin Oboo Industrial Park in Wuhai, Inner Mongolia is located in Alxa Economic Development Zone, Alxa League, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. This region enjoys unique geographical advantage, with well-developed coal chemical industry and salt chemical industry, adjacent to many chemical industrial parks in Shizuishan, Ningdong, Wuhai, Erdos and other places and boasting a full range of basic chemical raw materials. There are more than 20 chemical products produced here, occupying over 50% of the global market. The construction of Bayin Oboo Industrial Park was started in 2013, with the planned control area of 70 square kilometers and coverage of 23.19 square kilometers. As a key circular industrial park in the development zone to optimize the structure of the secondary industry, this park gives priority to the development of the fine chemical, power, building materials and new energy industries. It has by far become a main battlefield to promote the high-quality development of Alxa's industrial economy. By the end of 2019, it has attracted a total of 32 enterprises, including 20 enterprises that have had their projects put into production and 12 enterprises whose projects are currently under construction, and a new industry pattern dominated by the new materials, agricultural and pharmaceutical intermediates and energy generation industries has been basically formed. 

 

Zhongshan Group is one of the enterprises that rapidly moved to the northwest in recent years. In May 2019, it set out to establish a wholly-owned subsidiary, Inner Mongolia Zhonggao Chemical Co., Ltd. in Bayin Oboo Industrial Park by actively engaging in project feasibility study, seeking approvals from relevant authorities, project design, and other first-phase preparations. According to Li Dan, the Company Director, Zhonggao has by far completed the infrastructure and equipment installation for several leading core products in Phase 1. The project is expected to be put into production in early March 2020.

 

 

Mr. Li said that the industrial agglomeration effect and low costs of raw materials and energy makes the northwest an ideal site for chemical plants. Alxa has also introduced a series of preferential policies in terms of tax, credit, technological innovation, talent introduction, and protection of entrepreneurs' rights and interests, creating a favorable environment for investment. Taking the tax policies as an example, Mr. Li said that enterprises whose main business is in sectors covered by the Catalogue of Encouraged Industries in Western Regions and whose main business income accounts for more than 70% of the total corporate income in the current year may pay the corporate income tax based on the rate of 15%. Enterprises may also enjoy a favorable tax rate with respect to the income from products produced using resources generated during the production process as the main raw materials, other than from products specified in the original design. Other policy supports in terms of charges and service assurance, resource allocation, infrastructure, talent introduction and training, are also available. 

 

The main products of Zhonggao in the park are still the high efficient and environmentally friendly selective herbicides for which the company has a solid customer base and strong competitive strength, such as mesotrione and metamitron. The approved scales of corresponding products have reached the domestic leading level, such as mesotrione andmetamitron, whose planned scales have reached 10,000 tons/year and 3,000 tons/year, respectively. By taking adequate account of the availability of upstream and downstream products, their output and market demand, among others, the company has been gradually extending the upper and lower ends, and working to realize self-sufficiency in key intermediates not easily obtainable from nearby areas. 

 

With respect to the poor transportation conditions and high transportation costs and labor costs in the northwest, Mr. Li said that the company will reduce the logistics costs through high-efficient distribution. Engagement of a specialized third-party logistics company can shorten the en route time of goods and reduce the costs and losses of goods in the turnover process. A third-party logistics company may also be used to directly supply goods to the immediate upstream customer to help realize zero inventory and reduce costs. Moreover, large quantity non-hazardous substances may be transported via the northwest ports and railway, instead of highway.

 

In terms of employment and talent team building, Zhonggaowill adopt different recruitment strategies for different posts. For example, for jobs directly related to production, relevant personnel will be recruited from nearby provinces where the chemical industry is well developed, and jobs not closely related to production will be outsourced. At the same time, the human resources of the ZhongshanGroup are fully unitized to recruit employees and provide pre-job training. In addition, strategic cooperation is conducted with local vocational and technical colleges under the joint or directional training programs to provide blue-collar workers to the company so as to ensure its sustainable development.

 

According to Mr. Li, after Phase 1 project was put into operation, Zhonggao will, in light of the registration of its products in the international market, produce more herbicide and fungicide varieties that have large market shares, strong life cycle, high technology-intensiveness and high added value, including pinoxadenand prothioconazole. A good external environment is very important for the development of chemical enterprises. There will be a new round of development opportunities for high-quality enterprises possessing advanced technology and strong cost control capabilities. 

 

 

Ningdong Energy and Chemical Industry Base is located in the mid-east region of Ningxia. With the total planned area of 3484 square kilometers and the core area of 800 square kilometers, it was recognized successively as a national coal base with a handling capacity exceeding a hundred million tons, a coal and electricity base exceeding ten million kilowatts, a modern coal chemical industry demonstration zone and a circular economy demonstration zone. In 2019, it was ranked 6th in the list of top 30 chemical industry parks in China.

 

Ningdong Chemical New Materials Park is one of the key industrial parks under the Ningdong Energy and Chemical Industry Base Construction Program. With a planned area of 22.04 square kilometers in total, it gives priority to the development of modern coal chemical, fine chemical, pharmaceutical chemical industries. It has by far attracted 50 enterprises, involving 48 projects in 6 major industries, including modern coal chemical, fine chemical and new materials industries.

 

Ningxia Yifan Biotechnology Co., Ltd., funded by Yifan Biotechnology in 2018, is located in Ningdong Chemical New Materials Park, with an average investment of 3.43 million yuan per mu and an output value of more than 3 billion. According to Wu Kechong, Board Chairman of Yifan Biotechnology, the production base in Ningdong had gained all required approvals by May 2019 and is currently under construction. The expected completion time is March 2020.

 

 

 

Mr. Wu said that the company's core products in the park are herbicides and fungicides, including clethodim (3,000 tons/ year), flumioxazin (500 tons/year), and bromacil (500 tons/ year). The products coming out later include oxyfluorfen, prothioconazole, metalaxyl, metalaxyl-M, difenoconazole and prochloraz. The products to the developed in the next phase include herbicides, like pinoxaden, fomesafen and fluoroglycofen, and fungicides, like thiodiazole-copper, zinc thiazole, picoxystrobin, cyproconazole, and metconazole as well as insecticides like ethiprole and spirotetramat. With respect to the flagship products, the company will strive to start with basic chemical raw materials and achieve self-sufficiency in intermediates, so as to ensure sustained production capacity.

 

Mr. Wu believes that compared with the traditional coastal areas, the remote northwest region has distinct production advantages. In addition to the well-developed basic chemical industry and the stable supply of energy and raw materials, the park also has high standards and strict requirements for safety and environmental protection. These are conducive to the company's long-term development and enhancement of its overall competitiveness. It is learned that a public power island is being constructed in the park, which, upon completion, can provide centralized heating and gas supply. A sewage treatment plant can treat sewage in a collective manner, saving the initial investment of enterprises in infrastructure. So enterprises can directly set up workshops in the park in a cost-effective way, without anything else to worry out. 

 

As to the talent team building, Chairman Wu said that the company has established a sound training system, under which, all on-the-job employees have to receive pre-job training in the production base in Jiangsu or Zhejiang and has also developeda wealth of talent training routes and courses to support self-development of employees and meet the need of the company. 

 

Ningxia Surongda Chemical Co., Ltd., funded by Jiangsu Sword AgroChemicals Co., Ltd., is also located in Ningdong Energy and Chemical Industry Base, and has completed the first phase of environmental assessment and design, as well asthe selection and ordering of some equipment. The construction of workshops, three waste treatment systems, and public works are currently underway. The facility installation in some workshops is expected to start in May 2020. Zhang Zhixun, person in charge of the company, said that all work is progressing smoothly, including negotiations with the government of the park.

 

 

 

The core products of Surongda at present include fungicides tebuconazole, cyproconazole, azoxystrobin, pyraclostrobin, triadimenol, paclobutrazol and metconazole, herbicides metribuzin and bentazone, insecticides thiamethoxam and proprietary products and multiple intermediate products. The company will also develop 3-trifluoropyrazole fungicides in the next phase. 

 

Mr. Zhang pointed out that the transfer from the eastern coastal regions to the west or inland actually places higher requirements on enterprises. Most of Surongda's products aremadeunder the condition of recycling water and zero discharge, instead of discharge to the sea. The company will adopt the wet oxidation technology to treat massive high-concentration wastewater and MVR to treat salt-containing wastewater, and incinerators to treat high-concentration wastewater and waste salt. Multiple sets of RTO will also be available for waste gas incineration. The three wastes (waste gas, waste water and industrial residue) will be collected and disposed separately, and operated and utilized comprehensively to realize zero discharge.

 

 

Mr. Wu of Yifan Biotechnology believes that the production capacity transfer of agrochemical enterprises from the east to the west this time is different from that of last time, which was from areas with higher environmental protection requirements to areas with lower environmental protection requirements. The transfer this time is from the east where the environmental carrying capacity has encountered bottlenecks and constraints to the west where the level of industrialization is low and the economy is to be developed, which is a manifestation of the state’s will. What the west needs is not more pesticide enterprises, but more concentrated production capacity and higher-level industries. Despite of different regulatory means and effects, the environmental protection requirements and standards in the west and the east are the same. Enterprises establishing plants in the west in an attempt to illegally discharge wastes cannot achieve sustainable development and would pay high prices. 

 

As for whether the western and northeastern regions can take in the transferred production capacity, Mr. Wu believes that this is a situation similar to what happened when the pesticide and chemical production capacity was transferred from Europe and the United States to China two decades ago. At that time, China fell behind of the advanced countries in terms of quality of labor force, industrial development, management, supporting facilities and infrastructure. Since joining the WTO, and thanks to a range of supporting policies and the demographic dividend, China has quickly taken in the chemical and pesticide production capacity transferred from Europe and the United States, giving full play to the advantages as a late comer. Therefore, with the targeted supporting policies in place, the west and northeast will surely achieve sustainable development.

 

To sum up, the northwestern region of China has abundant development resources and is capable of learning from the experience and lessons in extensive development of the eastern coastal areas, so it has a bright development prospect of the chemical industry. When moving to the northwestern region, enterprises shall have a clear picture of the current situation of the industry. They should know that the industrial transfer is not simply a "spatial transfer" of workshops and production lines, but presents an opportunity for structural adjustment, transformation and upgrading, and for achieving a "win-win" result between the place they move out and the place they move in, and between economic development and environmental protection.

 

Appendix: Main Pesticide and Intermediate Enterprises in Northwest China (Source:AgroPages, incomplete statistics)

Industrial Park	Company	Main products and products to be developed
Hohhot Economic and Technological Development Zone	Qilu Pharmaceutical (Inner Mongolia) Co., Ltd.	Abamectin, Emamectin benzoate, Spinosad
Xin'ao Industrial Park, Dalat Banner, Erdos	Inner Mongolia Xinweiyuan Biochemical Co., Ltd.	Abamectin, Emamectin benzoate, Spinosad, under a pilot scale test
	Inner Mongolia Yanuo Science and Technology Co., Ltd.	Dimethyl sulfate, dimethyl disulfide and chemical by-products
Low Carbon Industrial Park, Wuhai Economic Development Zone, Inner Mongolia	Yongtai Fine Chemical Industry	Pharmaceutical and pesticide intermediates
BayinOboo Industrial Park, Wuhai, Inner Mongolia	Inner Mongolia Ruida Changqing Chemical Co., Ltd.	A project with the production capacity of 40,000 tons of chlorobenzene, under construction
	Inner Mongolia Zhonggao Chemical Co., Ltd.	10,000 tons of mesotrione /year, 3,000 tons of metamitro /year and other technical materials and intermediates, under construction
	Inner Mongolia Brother Chemical Co., Ltd.	20,000 tons of indigo powder /year and 30,000 tons of chlorotoluene /year
	Inner Mongolia XinghanFudu Chemical Co., Ltd.	40,000 tons of anhydrous potassium fluoride (fluroxypyr intermediate ) /year
	Inner Mongolia Xintaihua Technology Co., Ltd.	15,000 tons of diaminotoluene /year, 15,000 tons of benzotriazole /year and 15,000 tons of methylbenzotriazole /year
	Inner Mongolia Lingsheng Crop Science Co., Ltd.	30,000 tons of pharmaceutical intermediates, amino acid and agricultural chemical products /year
	Inner Mongolia Dazhong Industrial Chemical Co., Ltd.	A project for production of pesticides and fluorine series fine chemicals, under construction
	Inner Mongolia Chuan’er Technology Co., Ltd.	A project with the production capacity of 970 million tons of plant growth regulators /year
	Inner Mongolia Benxing Chemical Co., Ltd.	A project involving investment of 1.5 billion yuan for production of pesticides and intermediates
	Inner Mongolia Shazhou Chemical Technology Co., Ltd.	A project involving investment of 500 million yuan for production of pentanone products
	Inner Mongolia Shijie Chemical Co., Ltd.	A project with the production capacity of 10,000 tons of sulfentrazone /year and 3,000 tons of flumioxazin /year
	Inner Mongolia Jiayu Chemical Co., Ltd.	A project for production of triphenyltin chloride products, under construction
	Inner Mongolia Derui Biotechnology Co., Ltd. (under construction)	Thiamethoxam, clothianidin, imidacloprid, spirodiclofen, acetamiprid and intermediates
Wuda Industrial Park, Wuhai, Inner Mongolia	Inner Mongolia Yanuo Pharmaceutical Technology Co., Ltd.	Dinotefuran intermediates, a proposed project with the production capacity of 30,000 tons of pharmaceutical and intermediate products /year
	Inner Mongolia Jiaruimi Fine Chemical Co., Ltd.	1,500 tons of CTC/year, 1,000 tons of DCTF/year, and 600 tons of glufosinate - ammonium, fluazinam, florasulam, boscalid and prothioconazole /year
	Inner Mongolia Tenglong Biological Fine Chemical Co., Ltd.	50,000 tons of glyphosate /year
Shizuishan Economic and Technological Development Zone, Ningxia	Ningxia Xin’an Technology Co., Ltd.	Carbendazim, diuron, glyphosate, thiophanate-methyl, buprofezin, isoprolong and other technicals
Yinchuan Biotechnology Park, Helan County	Ningxia Taiyixin Biotechnology Co., Ltd.	1600 tons of abamectin /year, and 360 tons of 95% emamectin benzoate technical /year
Ningdong Energy and Chemical Industry Base, Ningxia	Suli (Ningxia) New Material Technology Co., Ltd.	Chlorothalonil and azoxystrobin technical materials
	Ningxia Yifan Biotechnology Co., Ltd.	3,000 tons of clethodim /year, 500 tons of flumioxazin /year, and 500 tons of bromacil and intermediates /year
	Ningxia Yongnong Biological Science Co., Ltd.	The production capacity of phase 1 project: 7,000 tons of methyl diester/year; phase 2: 10,000 tons of glufosinate-ammonium technical materials/year and 9,000 tons of methyl diester/year; phase 3: 10,000 tons of glufosinate - ammonium technical materials /year and 9,000 tons of methyl diester/year.
	Ningxia Surongda Chemical Co., Ltd.	Technicalof fungicides (tebuconazole, cyproconazole, azoxystrobin, pyraclostrobin, triadimenol, paclobutrazol and metconazole), herbicides (metribuzin and bentazone), pesticides (thiamethoxam and proprietary products)
Qingtongxia Industrial Park, Ningxia	Ningxia Dongwu Agrochemical Co., Ltd.	30,000 tons of guanidine nitrate, 18,000 tons of nitroguanidine, 5,000 tons of nitroguanidine - methyl, 15,000 tons of imidazolidine, 5,000 tons of oxadiazine, and 2,000 tons of Ethyl N-cyanoethanimideate /year
Taisha Industrial Zone, Pingluo County, Ningxia	Ningxia Gerui Fine Chemical Co., Ltd.	Technical materials of 1,000 tons of diuron, 100 tons of flumioxazin, 200 tons of fenoxaprop-p-ethyl, 100 tons of cyhalofop-butyl, 200 tons of quizalofop-p-ethyl, 100 tons of clodinafop-propargyl, 100 tons of fluazifop-p-butyl, 100 tons of bispyribac-sodium and 200 tons of herbicide
Zhongwei Industrial Park, Ningxia	Ningxia Ruitai Technology Co., Ltd.	Carbendazim, carbendazim-methyl, acetamiprid, imidacloprid and pyridine intermediate
	Ningxia Yadong Chemical Co., Ltd.	Pharmaceutical intermediates
Tengri Economic and Technological Development Zone, Alxa, Inner Mongolia	Inner Mongolia Laike Crop Protection Co., Ltd.	Technical materials of metaldehyde and isoprothiolane
	Ningxia Lanfeng Fine Chemical Co., Ltd.	Technical materials of carbendazim and diethofencarb
	Inner Mongolia Runhui Biotechnology Co., Ltd.	Technical materials of amitraz, paclobutrazol and niclosamide
	XinchengWeiye Chemical Co., Ltd.	Dye intermediates
Northeast Suburban Development Zone, Ganzhou District, Zhangye City, Gansu Province	ZhangyeDagong Agrochemical Co., Ltd.	3,000 tons of mesotrione and intermediates/year
Yumen Building Material Chemical Industry Zone, Jiuquan City, Gansu Province	Gansu ShijiDekun Chemical Co., Ltd.	Production lines with the annual capacity of 3,000 tons of pinaconone, 2,000 tons of dichloro pinazone, 3,000 tons of thiocarbazide and 1,000 tons of CCMP to be built

This article will be published in the upcoming magazine 2020 China Pesticide Suppliers Guide