The Herbicide Market in Taiwan in 2006

By Lai-Ping FONG

www.ag168.com

2006.10.02

According to the statistic of the Council of Agriculture, there were 370 active ingredients and 4,446 registration certificates of the agrochemicals registered in Taiwan. Counting by the co-formulation, there were 518 compounds and 4,912 registration certificates until September of 2006 in Taiwan.

On herbicide aspects, there were 72 active ingredients and 503 registration certificates of the herbicides approved. Counting by the co-formulation, there were 97 compounds and 547 registration certificates registered. The number of the registration certificates of the herbicides was shared 11% of the total issue of the Council of Agriculture. 

Herbicides play the main role in the agrochemical market in Taiwan. Based on the quantity, the sales volume was 14,214MT that shared 39% of the total agrochemicals in 2005. Based on the amount, the turnover was NT$1.42billion (equal USD43 mio. with the exchange rate USD:NTD=33) that shared 27% of the total market in 2005. To compare with 2004, the sales volue was decreased by 1% but the sales turnover was declined up to 10%. The main reason is caused by the decreasing consumption of herbicides in granule formulation on paddy rice fields

Table 1. The segments of Taiwan agrochemical market in 2005. Price level: ex-factory                                    

Exchange rate USD：NTD=33

(1)   The market of non-selective herbicides:

Glyphosate IPA 41%S, Paraquat 24% and Gluflosinate-ammonium 13.5% are the main non-selective herbicides in Taiwan. These 3 products shared the sales volume and turnover of the total herbicide market by 60% and 70% respectively. Glyphosate IPA was the top one, the sales volume was 5,545MT and the turnover was NT$532 million (equal to USD16mio.) in 2005.  

Glyphosate IPA dominated the total herbicide market by 39% on sales volume and over 37% on sales amount. To compare with 2004, the sales volume and turnover of Glyphosate IPA were down 10% and 2% respectively. Paraquat was decreased on sales volume by 18% and sales amount was down by 20%. Among the NSH, the Gluflosinate-ammonium was growing up both of sales volume and turnover by 10% and 6% respectively. 

Table. 2. The main NSH in 2005.                     Price level: ex-factory

(2)   The market of herbicides used on paddy rice fields

The main formulation of the herbicides used on the paddy rice fields is granule. In 2005, the sales volume of total herbicides used on paddy rice fields was 4,604MT, the total turnover was NT$131 million (equal to USD4.0 million). The leading products were Butachlor and Butachlor Bensulfuron-methyl, these 2 products dominated the total herbicides used on paddy rice by 62% on sales volume and 47% on sales amount. To compare with 2004, the market decreased sharply by -16% and -10% on sales volume and sales amount respectively. The stagnant was mainly caused by the decrease of the cultivated area of the paddy rice.   

Table 3. The market of herbicides on paddy rice fields in 2005.   Price level: ex-factory

(3) The market of herbicides used on dry land

Fluazifop-butyl, Ametryn and Pendimethralin were the main herbicides used on dry land. The turnover of Fluazifop-butyl was about NT$46 million (equal to USD1.4 million). The sales volume was increased by 18% and the turnover was raised by 30% to compare with the sales of 2004.  

Table 4. The market of herbicides on dry land in 2005.   Price level: ex-factory