Biopesticide has become a trend of future crop protection industry. Metarhizium, for example, is used for control of Locust Diaster in China and it is now being produced with advanced genetic engineering technique which has increased the production capacity to world leading level 3000 tons per year. Mr. Xia Yuxian from Chongqing, is the key person who is researching this highly efficient and low toxicity fungicide.

The biggest problem that slows down the development of environmental friendly biopesticides, is the difficulty in transformatting lab resarch technique into large production scale. Ambitious companies have been putting tremendous efforts in researching new ways and low cost techniques that enable biopesticides become substitutions for other dangerous pesticides in the near future.

By Lynn

Dicofol and carbofuran will remove from the list of high pollution and high danger (HPHD) chemicals in 2009. It is a good acaricide for cotton, orange and apple tree etc.

In the past, DDT content in Dicofol was very high (up to 10% max), it was forbidden to be used in tea and was listed in POPs. Now the situation has changed. The biggest Dicofol’s manufacturer in China has improved their product’s quality which conformed to FAO standard, they have also received PD certification now. The DDT content is lower down to 0.1% max. Similar situation applies to Carbofuran.

Both products’ tax refunds were adjusted from 0% to 9%. Psychem believes the future of both products will be better and will be used for a long time.

By Alex

O-chloronitrobenzene (ONCB), one of the main intermediates of Carbendazim, has been a topic recently.

Since early last month, price of chloronitrobenzene was adjusted from RMB4400/T to RMB3200, while o-chloronitrobenzene decreased from RMB7000/T to RMB6000/T. According to the report from bureaucracy, the total production capacity declined to only 46%, as many downstream producers of chloronitrobenzene keep the lowest stocks ever for their raw materials, it is very common to find zero stocks now during the economy crisis.

However, starting from June, ONCB’s market price was pushed by the market gap caused by the decrease in production capacity from the major producer Yangnong Group who has a total capacity of 100,000 T/year. Currently, ONCB’s market price is up by 10%. Price of Carbendazim is also escalating.

By Lynn