China’s PMIDA (glyphosate intermediate) exports stay low as demand declines slightly

The price of China’s PMIDA remains at medium to upper levels, with signs of a downward trend. PMIDA is mainly supplied from Sichuan Province, which is highly concentrated. Supported by the high price of downstream glyphosate over the last two years, PMIDA has seen considerable purchase demand. Currently, the demand in Chinese market for pesticides has declined while exports have been restrained by the reemergence of the COVID-19. The trade of glyphosate has changed, with buyers becoming cautious about purchasing, so supply pressure for PMIDA has slightly relaxed.

Looking back, the export volume of PMIDA stayed low in April, while in May, under the strict lockdown of Shanghai, its export volume was expected to continue dropping. In June, this export volume could pick up.

In terms of export data, China’s export volume for PMIDA in April 2022 was 1,000 tons, totalling 5,200 tons from January to April. The statistics for China’s monthly export of PMIDA in 2021-2022 is shown in Figure 1. The transaction price of PMIDA is at the high side, with average export price staying at $6,050.02 per ton in April.

Figure 1   Statistics for China’s monthly exports of PMIDA in 2021-2022

In terms of export destinations for Chinese exports of PMIDA from January to April 2022, the top import countries are shown in Figure 2. Among them, the main destinations are India, with an import volume of 2,510 tons, followed by Argentina with 2,450 tons, and the US and Mexico with 108 tons and 72 tons, respectively.

Figure 2   Destinations of Chinese PMIDA exports in April 2022

According to the corporate registration of Chinese PMIDA manufactures, from January to April 2022, the leading exporting regions for PMIDA are Sichuan, Jiangsu and Shanghai, with 56.94% being supplied from Sichuan, 37.46% from Jiangsu, 4.90% from Shanghai and 0.70% from Zhejiang. No other provinces or cities have ever exported PMIDA.

Figure 3   Chinese PMIDA exports by region in April 2022

In the short-term, PMIDA supply and demand will remain balanced. The downstream consumption by production of glyphosate is at a good level, but in the warm months of July and August, which are the low season of glyphosate, factories may be shut down for maintenance. Therefore, the supply of PMIDA may decline at that time.