China Agrochemical Price Index (CAPI) of April 2014 was 102.75, a decrease of 2.78% compared to last month and a decrease of 0.76% compared to last April. Under the general context with stricter environmental protection policies being issued, China pesticide market is in fluctuation. Herbicides and insecticides had a relatively greater impact on the CAPI and, to some extent, decided the price index trend.

China Agrochemical Price Index during Feb 2013 to Apr 2014

The price index of herbicide was 106.62, a decrease of 2.88% compared to last month but a small increase of 1.15% compared to last April. In the second quarter, the herbicide market began to fall. According to the statistics of China Crop Protection Industry Association (CCPIA), major herbicides such as glyphosate, paraquat and atrazine did not show the rising tendency that had been seen since the beginning of 2014, and their transaction prices also dropped. Due to a relatively weak economic situation and drought, the demand of glyphosate in South America has declined, which has directly led to an “off-peak peak season” for glyphosate in the first half of the year; while the increasing enterprise inventory resulted from the insufficient demand has caused the market price of glyphosate to fall; however, as stricter environmental protection policies are leading the industry to a sustainable development path, the future glyphosate market should be in bright prospect. As for paraquat, the deadline of paraquat AS is drawing near, most formulators have stopped purchasing mother liquor, which has led to increase in enterprise inventory, eased the tight supply situation and caused the transaction price to fall.

The price index of insecticide was 93.91, a decrease of 4.85% compared to last month and a decrease of 4.65% compared to last April. In April, the transaction prices of most insecticides remained stable and were in the normal price fluctuation range. However, the transaction price of acephate decreased by 17.6% compared to last month, pulling down the price index of insecticides by 2.12 percentage points.

The price index of fungicide was 100.34, an increase of 1.74% compared to last month and a decrease of 2.35% compared to last April. In April, the fungicide market was picking up, and the weighted transaction prices of most herbicides went up, including carbendazim, mancozeb, tebuconazole, azoxystrobin, epoxiconazole, propiconazole, difenoconazole and prochloraz. Though the transaction prices of chlorothalonil and thiophanate-methyl fell slightly, it didn’t affect the overall rise very much.