Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Jinzhou Titanium to Be Acquired

Jinzhou Titanium Industry Co., Ltd. (Jinzhou Titanium), the only chloride TiO2 manufacturer in China, is on the way to be acquired, according to CCM’s March issue of TiO2 China Monthly Report.

On 20 March, the local government reports that the equity deal of Hongkong Hanxing Investment Co., Ltd. (Hongkong Hanxing) to acquire Jinzhou Titanium has been approved by the Ministry of Commerce of P. R. C. (MOC) recently, accompanied by a Certificate of Approval for Establishment of Enterprises with Investment of Taiwan, Hongkong, Macao and Overseas Chinese in the People's Republic of China. The value of the acquisition is USD94.9 million, becoming the largest foreign acquisition project in Jinzhou City by now. 
 
After being acquired, Jinzhou Titanium will get a total investment of USD121.8 million and a registered capital of USD40.5 million. And it will continue to operate TiO2 production.
 
Hongkong Hanxing, a subsidiary of CITIC Group Corporation (CITIC Group) will get all the equity of Jinzhou Titanium that held by CITIC Jinzhou Metal Co., Ltd. (CITIC Jinzhou Metal, also a subsidiary of CITIC Group) through the acquisition.
 
The acquisition, required to be under review by MOC and other five Chinese ministries, turns out to be time-consuming. Luckily, a lot of effort made by local foreign trade and economic cooperation departments has gone into promoting the approval progress of the acquisition.

Source: TiO2 China Monthly Report 1203

Content of TiO2 China Monthly Report 1203:
China's TiO2 export and import situation in Jan. 2012
Taihai Technology sets up chloride titanium project with the government
Multinationals benefit from higher TiO2 prices in 2011
TiO2 production to start in Sri Lanka
Import situation of cosmetic TiO2 in China in 2011
Jinzhou Titanium to be acquired
China's titanium feedstock import situation Jan. 2012
Iluka upbeat on the profitability of titanium feedstock
Gunson, DuPont sign ilmenite offtake agreement
Indonisia exterts strict regulation on mineral resources
Titanium feedstock related investment hot in Western China
Coating production drives TiO2 consumption in China
Dow eyes the fast growing Western China
… …

TiO2 China Monthly Report, a monthly publication issued by CCM International on 25th of every month, will penetrate into Chinese TiO2 market from a global view, deeply analyse TiO2 industrial chain and manufacturers’ competitiveness and trace the latest industrial hotspots and dynamics, aiming to provide the most valuable information about China’s TiO2 industry.


About CCM
CCM is dedicated to market research in China, Asia-Pacific Rim and global market. With a staff of more than 150 dedicated highly-educated professionals. CCM offers Market Data, Analysis, Reports, Newsletters, Buyer-Trader Information, Import/Export Analysis all through its new proprietary product ValoTracer.
For more information, please visit http://www.cnchemicals.com.
CCM International Ltd.
Guangzhou CCM Information Science & Technology Co., Ltd.
17th Floor, Huihua Commercial & Trade Mansion, No.80 Xianlie Zhong Road, Guangzhou 510070, China
Tel: 86-20-37616606

Chongqing Grain Group Seeking More Oversea Investment

Chongqing Grain Group Co., Ltd. (CGG), one of the leading state-owned grain companies in China, plans to invest USD1.2 billion to build grain production bases in Argentina this year, for the planting of soybean, corn, cotton, etc., reported by Xinhua News, the official press agency of Chinese government, according to CCM’s March issue of AgriChina Investor.
 
Facing strong demand for oversea soybean, corn, cotton, etc., Chongqing government believes it is a good chance to invest in agricultural business in oversea countries. According to an official from Chongqing Foreign Trade and Economic Relations Commission, in 2012, Chongqing plans to invest USD6 billion to develop agricultural business in oversea countries such as Argentina, Brazil, Canada, etc. Among the total, CGG's USD1.2 billion investment will be the most important one this year.
 
After the completion of the investment, the purchase cost of soybean will be 20% lower when purchasing from producers rather than large international grain dealers. Besides, CGG can get more control over the price of soybean from oversea market.
 
Latest news said that CGG has registered a company in Argentina with the registered capital of USD10 million. The first-phase investment will hit USD99.89 million. Besides the investment in Argentina, CGG also plans to develop canola business in Canada and Australia, rice business in Cambodia and palm oil business in Malaysia.
    
In fact, this is not the first time for CGG to develop agricultural business in oversea countries. The company has built a soybean production base in Brazil last year and imported the first batch of soybean (0.26 million tonnes) from its oversea soybean production base in Sept. 2011.
 
"Under the guidance of the government, we plan to build a comprehensive industrial chain: build oversea production bases; offer financial support and services; offer storage and logistics support; provide agricultural production means and then distribute the products to domestic market." said Mr. Hu, President of CGG.
 
CGG plans to import 10 million tonnes of soybean from its oversea production bases, which will not only meet the demand in Chongqing City, but also can be marketed to surrounding areas. Besides direct import of soybean from Brazil, CGG also plans to build some soybean processing factories in the country, which is welcomed by the Brazil government.
 
Besides CGG, some other companies, such as Zhejiang Fudi Agriculture Group and Julong Group have also invested to build crop planting bases in oversea countries.
 
Other big state-owned companies are also planning to develop agricultural business in oversea countries, including Chinatex Corp Ltd., China's largest cotton trader, and COFCO, China's largest grains and edible oil trader. COFCO reveals that it plans to invest USD10 billion in oversea mergers and acquisitions in agricultural industry in the coming years.
 
It is very easy to understand companies' objectives to invest in oversea countries, under the background of strong demand and limited farmland. China is the biggest soybean importer in the world, but domestic soybean importers have to import soybean from large international grain dealers. Domestic companies hope the purchase cost can be reduced with the building of oversea production bases. However, some insiders think it will be hard to achieve the objective. First, the cost in building production bases in oversea countries is very huge, especially by purchasing farmland. Besides, the purchase of farmland has to face restriction by oversea countries. Last but not the least, they have to face fierce competition from large international grain dealers who are masters for both actuals and futures in agricultural products.

Source: AgriChina Investor 1203

Content of AgriChina Investor 1203:
Government to support leading agricultural enterprises
Draft of Grain Law raised disputes
Central government's agricultural expenditure to hit USD194 billion in 2012
China may relax restriction on rapeseed import from Canada
COFCO to expand its dorking capacity in West China
Steel super giant WISCO to build pig farm
Shuanghui accelerating its restructuring
Huiyuan Group to invest in vineyard business
Chongqing Grain Group seeking more oversea investment
Cross-segments expansion of large-scale grain & food processors
Ecological farming: A promising approach to ensure grain security
Domestic corn planting area keeps increasing
……

AgriChina Investor, periodically published on 25th every month, offers timely update and close follow up of agriculture investment in China, analyzing market data and trends, as well as related policies. Major columns include investment environment, investment dynamics, market watcher, market review etc.

If you are interested in AgriChina Investor, please do not hesitate to contact us by +86-20-37616606, or email us at econtact@cnchemicals.com.

About CCM
CCM is dedicated to market research in China, Asia-Pacific Rim and global market. With a staff of more than 150 dedicated highly-educated professionals. CCM offers Market Data, Analysis, Reports, Newsletters, Buyer-Trader Information, Import/Export Analysis all through its new proprietary product ValoTracer. For more information, please visit http://www.cnchemicals.com.

CCM International Ltd.
Guangzhou CCM Information Science & Technology Co., Ltd.
17th Floor, Huihua Commercial & Trade Mansion, No.80 Xianlie Zhong Road, Guangzhou 510070, China
Tel: 86-20-37616606

Thursday, March 22, 2012

Huaxing Chemical Flees from Deficit in 2011

Anhui Huaxing Chemical Industry Co., Ltd. (Huaxing Chemical) went through 2011 at last, without worrying about consecutive deficit following 2010 which will lead to special treatment for the company in stock market. According to 2011 performance forecast released on Feb. 24, 2012, Anhui Huaxing was predicted to meet the fruit of performance growth that net profit and revenue rose by 103% and 9.19% year on year to USD0.6 million and USD0.15 billion respectively last year, according to CCM International’s March Issue of Herbicides China News.

Even though the data of Huaxing Chemical's 2011 performance hasn't been confirmed by the accounting firm yet, it can be sure that Huaxing Chemical had overturned the deficit situation of 2010 in 2011 with the financial assistance from the local government.

Admitted by Huaxing Chemical in the forecast, the governmental subsidy has improved Huaxing Chemical's finance of 2011 indeed. Aiming to save Huaxing Chemical from continuous deficit and the risk of special treatment in stock market, in detail, the local government in Anhui Province had given Huaxing Chemical USD11.8 million (RMB75 million) in the name of research subsidy at the end of 2011.

It's noteworthy that Huaxing Chemical's sales profit in 2011 was still negative, which reached USD-14.2 million with year-on-year growth of 28.74%. As explained by Huaxing Chemical, it was because abnormal climate impacted on the company's insecticide businesses and stagnant glyphosate market eroded the company performance in 2011. Especially, limited profit room in glyphosate production always exerts pressure on Huaxing Chemical, whose main business focuses on glyphosate with technical capacity of about 70,000t/a, though the company has been taking effort to improve current glyphosate performance by adjusting market strategy and management.

Thus, Huaxing Chemical's weak behavior still tenses investors' nerves, and even led them to oppugn company operation once. Some opinions pointed out that Huaxing Chemical's poor performance in recent years has much to do with the company's unadvisable and mutable strategies. As indicated in this opinion, for example, Huaxing Chemical mapped out large investment in the 34,000t/a IDAN project and 20,000t/a glyphosate technical transformation (both initiated in 2009), but can't gain profit from these investments. (Herbicides China News 1112: Huaxing Chemical oppugned)

It probably can relieve the investors a little that Huaxing Chemical's share price (Share code: SZ002018) appears upward recently, but the truth is that the whole uptrend of share market in China contributes primarily to this. According to the tracing as of Feb. 24, 2012, SZSE Component Index has jumped by almost 1,500 points on the basis of the opening level in 2012 of about 8,600 points.

At any rate, Huaxing Chemical's glyphosate business always faces various challenges. Shadowed by shrinking demand in overseas market due to global economic turbulence, Chinese glyphosate encountered anti-dumping investigation from Australian government and price reduction of Roundup recently. It can be said that Chinese glyphosate manufacturers creep for survival in this industry.

As to Huaxing Chemical's performance in 2012, it can't be estimated how the company's performance will be impacted by the complicated market factors, though Huaxing Chemical has been putting large effort to change current situation.

Source: Herbicides China News 1203
http://www.cnchemicals.com/Newsletter/NewsletterDetail_11.html

Content of Herbicides China News 1203:
Chinese pesticide export in 2011-the cahier in 2012 CAC Conference
Huaxing Chemical flees from deficit in 2011
Assets exchange of Huayang Technology blocked
Jiangsu Changqing launches 300t/a nicosulfuron IPO project
Sanonda to launch 10,000t/a pyridine production
MAX (Rudong) emphasizes innovative herbicide technology
Jiangsu Repont to relocate sulfonylurea herbicide production
Pesticide companies promote herbicide sales in March
Chinese 2,4-D witnesses growth in 2011
Decreasing doses of herbicide application researched in China
Chinese paraquat meets demand increase
Dicamba meets supply shortage in Feb.
Wanquan Hongyu's clethodim does not out-sold
Jiangsu Jiannong to resume clomazone supply
Herbicide price fluctuates slightly in early March

Herbicides China News, a monthly publication issued by CCM International on 15th of every month, provides you with the latest occurrences, exclusive analysis on the market trend as well as professional reviews on competitiveness of companies, products and relative industries in China’s herbicide industry.


About CCM
CCM is dedicated to market research in China, Asia-Pacific Rim and global market. With a staff of more than 150 dedicated highly-educated professionals. CCM offers Market Data, Analysis, Reports, Newsletters, Buyer-Trader Information, Import/Export Analysis all through its new proprietary product ValoTracer.
For more information, please visit http://www.cnchemicals.com.
CCM International Ltd.
Guangzhou CCM Information Science & Technology Co., Ltd.
17th Floor, Huihua Commercial & Trade Mansion, No.80 Xianlie Zhong Road, Guangzhou 510070, China
Tel: 86-20-37616606

Plan for Grain Processing Industry Development 2011-2020 Issued in Feb. 2012

On 24 Feb. 2012, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of China and the Ministry of Agriculture of China co-issued a Plan for Grain Processing Industry Development 2011-2020 (the Grain Plan), which points out the development direction for corn deep-processing industry in the future, according to CCM International’s March issue of Corn Products China News.
 
In accordance with the Grain Plan, China's grain processing industry achieved a great growth from 2005 to 2010: its total output value reached USD412.7 billion in 2010, surging by 70% over that in 2005. Besides, the number of large and powerful enterprises also enjoyed an increase: the number of producers with wheat processing volume over 400 tonnes per day reached 427 in 2010, 3.1 times of that in 2005. Besides, the proportion of top 10 corn deep-processing enterprises' sales revenue among total in the industry reached 38% in 2010. However, there were still problems in grain processing industry, such as unreasonable industrial structure: lots of small producers are with inferior production capacity; unsatisfactory quality guarantee system and poor capability of research and innovation. 
 
In view of the current development situation in grain processing industry and the prediction of domestic and global economy in the next few years, the Grain Plan points out some specific goals for the industry's development by 2015 and 2020: the total output value shall reach USD619.0 billion and USD1,095.2 billion by 2015 and 2020 respectively; the supply of grain for edible use shall be no less than 257.5 million tonnes and 252.5 million tonnes by 2015 and 2020 separately; the supply of grain for feed use shall be no less than 200.0 million tonnes and 227.5 million tonnes by 2015 and 2020 respectively.

In order to achieve the goals mentioned above, the Grain Plan proposes some detailed development direction for grain processing industry, and the following will be the focuses of corn deep-processing industry.
 
Firstly, to eliminate inferior production capacities and encourage leading enterprises to develop further, increasing industry concentration. Moreover, the Grain Plan specifically pointed out that by 2020, 3 million t/a capacity of corn starch shall be eliminated, accounting for 10.6% in its total domestic capacity in 2010.

Secondly, to restrain the capacity expansion of some corn products, such as monosodium glutamate, citric acid, lysine, threonine, tryptophan and alcohol; to stably develop starch sugar and sugar alcohol industries; to encourage the development of some enzymic preparations, organic acids and functional starch sugar all with high added value. In addition, the Grain Plan definitely encourages using non-grain raw materials to replace corn for production of the above products.

Thirdly, corn's supply shall be preferentially guaranteed for edible use and feed use, instead of industrial use, and the proportion of corn's consumption in deep-processing industry among total shall be limited to a reasonable level, which is suggested to be less than 26%.
 
Finally, foreign investors shall be restrained to enter into corn deep-processing industry. In fact, in 2010, the proportion of corn processing volume of foreign-owned companies among total was 26%, while those of private-owned and state-owned companies was 66% and 8% respectively. And the proportion of foreign-owned companies shall be further reduced in the future, in order to better control corn's consumption volume in deep-processing industry.
 
What's more important, the Grain Plan proposes some specific measures to guarantee corn deep-processing industry to develop toward the above direction. For example, to strengthen supervision and increase the threshold for entrance, to intensify financial support for leading enterprises or small and medium-sized enterprises with advanced production technology or high added value products and promising prospect; to exempt the import tax of some equipment that can't be manufactured at home for governmentally encouraged grain processing industry. These measures will positively help corn deep-processing industry in the future, if they are implemented effectively.
 
As a whole, the Grain Plan does not provide new ideas for corn deep-processing industry, without obvious effect on the industry in the short term, but it will work better for a long term, just like other related policies did, such as the 2011 edition of Catalogue of Industries for Guiding Foreign Investment, and the 12th Five-Year Plan for Food Industry. Overall, these policies definitely pointed out the development direction for the industry, and future regulations will be in line with these policies, so as to guarantee corn deep-processing industry to head toward the direction ruled within them.

Source: Corn Product China News 1203

Content of Corn Products China News 1203:
7.8%, domestic output of MSG enjoys an increase in 2011
Both import and export volumes of PLA in China increase in 2011
HFCS' consumption in China expected to increase in 2012
Import volume of L-phenylalanine in China increases by 48.8% in 2011
Chinese corn products Imp. & Exp. analysis in January 2012
Domestic furfural price increases slightly in March 2012
Domestic prices of four key amino acids perform differently in March 2012
Plan for Grain Processing industry Development 2011-2020 issued in Feb. 2012
Analysis into domestic lysine's market in 2011
Xiwang Sugar plans to increase corn starch and corn germ's supply to Xiwang Group related companies
Domestic potato industry expected to develop fast in the next few years
Domestic corn price heads up in March 2012

Corn Products China News, a monthly publication issued by CCM International on 20th of every month, reveals the driving force of news stories and deeply analyzes the influence of trends and dynamics on domestic and international corn deep processing industry.


About CCM International
CCM International is dedicated to market research in China, Asia-Pacific Rim and global market. With a staff of more than 150 dedicated highly-educated professionals. CCM International offers Market Data, Analysis, Reports, Newsletters, Buyer-Trader Information, Import/Export Analysis all through its new proprietary product ValoTracer. For more information, please visit http://www.cnchemicals.com.

CCM International Ltd.
Guangzhou CCM Information Science & Technology Co., Ltd.
17th Floor, Huihua Commercial & Trade Mansion, No.80 Xianlie Zhong Road, Guangzhou 510070, China
Tel: 86-20-37616606

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Several Public Companies with Lacklustre Performance Step into Phosphorus Industry in Succession

At present, investment on phosphorus industry upsurges amongst Chinese public enterprises that have never run a business on phosphorus industry, according to CCM International’s March issue of Phosphorus Industry China Monthly Report.
 
Less than three days after Sichuan Chemical Holding (Group) Co., Ltd. announced its phosphorus project, Wuhan East Lake High Technology Group Co., Ltd. (ELHT), as one public company that never gets involved in the business of phosphorus industry in China before, has released its new investment scheme to step into phosphorus industry on Feb. 19th, 2012. Before this investment, ELHT has experienced nine-month trade suspension since May 2011, to perform the asset restructuring.
 
In accordance with its announcement, ELHT will cooperate with its parent company—Hubei United Development Investment Group Co., Ltd. (HUDIG) to set up a 30:70 joint venture, namely Hubei United Development Investment Mining Co., Ltd. (HUDIM), to explore and exploit mines, especial phosphate mine. In the meantime, they have decided to take part in the exploration of phosphate mine in Yuan’an Region, Hubei Province.
 
The performance of ELHT in 2011 is far from satisfactory: It saw a decrease of 27.31% in the revenue of its main business compared with 2010. With this attractive phosphorus investment project, ELHT’s stock has hit the upper circuit limit on Feb. 21st, 2012 when it resumed trading.

In 2011, phosphorus chemical has performed rather well as a whole and will continue to be sought after by the market even when the SSE (Shanghai Stock Exchange) Composite Index fell to the current level, which is mainly attributed to the soaring prices of phosphorus ore and phosphate fertilizers.
 
Therefore, not only ELHT, it’s noteworthy that some other domestic public companies happened to launch phosphorus projects in succession at the beginning of 2012, either to expand business or to bounce from their losses.
 
Sichuan Hebang Co., Ltd. (the detail sees page 6, issue 2, Vol. 2: Sichuan Hebang to start IPO for phosphate chemical projects) which reached quite high asset-liability ratio from 2009 to 2011—respectively at 76.71%, 68.75%, 63.58%, made an announcement to start its IPO plan centering on fine phosphate chemical projects on Feb 14th, 2012.
 
And Sichuan Chemical Holding (Group) Co., Ltd. (the detail sees the article in this issue: Investors start focusing on phosphorus resources in Sichuan Province) which reportedly had a net loss between USD21.43 million and USD26.19 million in 2011, also intends to take part in the operation of phosphorus business in Leshan County, Sichuan Province.

Owing to the booming development of phosphorus industry, these public companies all seem to take phosphorus project as breakthrough to share the benefits from the current situation. In accordance with the data issued by National Bureau of Statistics of China, China acquired USD45.92 billion revenue and USD2.1 billion profit in the main downstream phosphorus products—phosphate fertilizers during the first ten months of 2011, increasing by 55.1% compared with the profit in the same period last year.
Source: Phosphorus Industry China Monthly Report 1203

Content of Phosphorus Industry China Monthly Report 1203:
Phosphorus Ore
Industry Dynamics: Several public companies with lacklustre performance step into phosphorus industry in succession  
Industry Dynamics: Investors start focusing on phosphorus resources in Sichuan Province 
Indusry Dynamics: Hubei government continues to guide local phosphorus industry 
Policy & Legislation: Hunan proposes general development goals for local phosphorus industry  
Yellow Phosphorus
Industry Dynamics: Yellow phosphorus tends to be tight in supply but with small rise in price   
Phosphate Fertilizer 
Indusry Dynamics: Fuquan Region to eliminate local phosphogypsum  
Company Dynamics: Kingenta to develop new fertilizers in Guizhou Province 
Global Insigt: India’s new subsidy policy to trigger slight fluctuation for international DAP market 
Fine Phosphate Chemical 
Company Dynamics: Hubei Xingfa to expand portfolio in favor of escaping depression in STPP  
Company Dynamics: Kailin Group to accelerate construction of phosphorus and coal chemical projects

Phosphorus Industry China Monthly Report, a monthly publication issued by CCM International on 15th of every month, provides you the latest information on company dynamic, industry dynamic, factors impacting the price fluctuation, technology improvement, supply & demand of China's phosphorus industry.

(Guangzhou China, March 16, 2012)
About CCM
CCM is dedicated to market research in China, Asia-Pacific Rim and global market. With a staff of more than 150 dedicated highly-educated professionals. CCM offers Market Data, Analysis, Reports, Newsletters, Buyer-Trader Information, Import/Export Analysis all through its new proprietary product ValoTracer.
For more information, please visit http://www.cnchemicals.com.
CCM International Ltd.
Guangzhou CCM Information Science & Technology Co., Ltd.
17th Floor, Huihua Commercial & Trade Mansion, No.80 Xianlie Zhong Road, Guangzhou 510070, China
Tel: 86-20-37616606

The 4th China Crop Protection Summit Achieved Complete Success

The 4th China Crop Protection Summit (CCPS), organized by CCM International, has been successfully held at Ramada Plaza Gateway Shanghai during 8th - 9th March, 2012. The summit has attracted top managers from famous enterprises to attend, such as Dow AgroSciences, Nufarm, Isagro, Agranova, Chemtrura, etc., and it has achieved complete success. About 60 delegates from different countries were involved in the event to discuss the current situation and future development of crop protection industry. 50% feel satisfied and wish to attend the summit next year.

Acting as a high-end platform to communicate with top-level experts and business managers face-to-face, CCPS has been successfully organized for the last 3 years. This year, the organizer has specially choose 16 hot topics of crop protection market, covering aspects of bio-pesticide, fluorine-containing pesticide, non-crop pesticide and pesticide import and export analysis, etc., and one of the workshops focused on process technology for producing agrochemical actives. 18 expert speakers were committed to sharing their unique perspectives and insightful expertise with the audiences. The interaction between speakers and audiences during the Q&A section was appealing.

Most participants said they benefited a lot from this two-day brainstormed event and hoped it would make great development in China’s crop protection industry in the future. Zhonghui Wu, General Manager of CCM International said “I am so glad that CCPS has received more and more recognition. And we will continue to provide high-quality market information and hold professional events to meet all the customers’ needs.”


About CCM International
CCM International is dedicated to market research in China, Asia-Pacific Rim and global market. With a staff of more than 150 dedicated highly-educated professionals. CCM International offers Market Data, Analysis, Reports, Newsletters, Buyer-Trader Information, Import/Export Analysis all through its new proprietary product ValoTracer. For more information, please visit http://www.cnchemicals.com.

CCM International Ltd.
Guangzhou CCM Information Science & Technology Co., Ltd.
17th Floor, Huihua Commercial & Trade Mansion, No.80 Xianlie Zhong Road, Guangzhou 510070, China
Tel: 86-20-37616606