After several years of adjustment, the prices of some Chinese medicinal materials have risen to varying degrees since the beginning of this year. Especially in the fourth quarter, the price increase has accelerated. What caused the price of Chinese medicinal materials to rise?
The new crown pneumonia epidemic and weather factors have generally risen
In the Qingping Chinese herbal medicine market in Guangzhou, Mr. Zhang, who has been engaged in the wholesale business of Chinese herbal medicines for many years, told reporters that among the medicinal materials he manages, almost all varieties have been increasing in price in the fourth quarter of this year. Take Panax notoginseng as an example, the price per kilogram has increased. To around 220 yuan, compared with the average price of around 200 yuan in July and August, it has risen by nearly 10%.
The reporter learned that the prices of almost all Chinese medicinal materials have risen this year, and the prices of individual varieties have doubled.
The person in charge of the Chinese herbal medicine market told reporters that while the price of Chinese herbal medicines has risen, the transaction volume has also increased significantly.
Wang Kunbo, general manager of Qingping Center of Xintianyou e-commerce company: This year, it is expected to achieve 12 billion yuan, and last year there was also a transaction volume of at least 7 billion yuan.
On the contrary, this year's epidemic has made nourishing categories, and the market has risen instead of falling.
Regarding the reason for the increase in the price of Chinese medicinal materials, many businesses believe that this year's excessive rain is one of the important reasons for the price increase. This argument has also been recognized by Chinese medicinal materials processing enterprises.
The person in charge of a Chinese medicinal material processing enterprise in Zhaoqing, Guangdong told reporters that due to the heavy rainfall this year, the harvest of Chinese medicinal materials was generally not as good as last year, which led to tight supply and natural price increases.
The reporter learned that the price of dried patchouli produced by their company has more than doubled from about 15,000 yuan per ton at the end of last year to about 38,000 yuan per ton today.
Liang Zhan, Chairman of Guangdong Dongfuxing Company: In June and July, when there was a lot of rain in Guangdong and the drainage was not fast enough, many rotten roots led to low output and poor quality. Therefore, from 2019 to the present, the price has doubled many.
In addition, industry insiders told reporters that the new crown pneumonia epidemic this year has blocked the import of some Chinese medicinal materials, which has also virtually pushed up the prices of related varieties.
Wang Weiquan, Chairman of the Chinese Medicinal Materials Planting and Breeding Professional Committee of the China Association of Chinese Medicine: Imported from abroad, because of the epidemic, the port has been affected by a lot of trade and customs clearance. Therefore, the supply of imported medicinal materials has exceeded demand, and the price has risen very high, and some have risen to 200%, such as cardamom, black pepper and other Southeast Asian varieties.
The new pharmacopoeia will soon be implemented, the price of Chinese medicinal materials may still rise
A few days ago, the National Medical Products Administration and the National Health Commission jointly issued an announcement to formally promulgate the 2020 version of the "Pharmacopeia of the People's Republic of China", which will be officially implemented on December 30.
What impact will the implementation of the new pharmacopoeia have on the Chinese herbal medicine market?
The reporter learned that the content of the new version of the Pharmacopoeia has many new adjustments compared with the previous version, and the improvement of the quality and standards of Chinese medicine is the key content.
Wang Weiquan, chairman of the Chinese Medicinal Materials Planting and Cultivation Professional Committee of the Chinese Medicine Association: The new pharmacopoeia has raised the requirements for heavy metal pesticide residues in many varieties, which is directly related to the price increase of medicinal materials that meet the pharmacopoeial standards.
For example, the price of ginseng with high pesticide residue is around RMB 120 per kilogram, but the price of ginseng that meets the pharmacopoeia standards, low or even no residue, is about 200 yuan per kilogram.
Industry insiders believe that the formal implementation of the new pharmacopoeia puts forward higher requirements for related companies.
For example, if any of the pesticide residues, heavy metals, content, etc. of Chinese herbal medicines does not meet the pharmacopoeial standards, they are all classified as “inferior drugs” or “not up to the drug standards”. This will undoubtedly quickly eliminate a considerable part of unqualified ones. For the raw materials of Chinese medicinal materials, enterprises will also pay more attention to the control of the sources of raw materials.
Liu Congsheng, deputy general manager of Zhangzhou Pien Tze Huang Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.: As a planting and breeding base for medicinal materials, the standardized planting and breeding of medicinal materials is not only good for the entire enterprise, but also a promotion for the entire society and the industry.
In the short term, some will not even see benefits, but companies should still work in this direction.
Because of the quality of medicines, how to trace the source of the Chinese medicinal materials we use, and how to achieve high-quality medicinal materials from the beginning of the selection and breeding of planting seedlings is a very critical link.
According to industry insiders, in the short term, the implementation of the new pharmacopoeia may stimulate the price of Chinese medicinal materials, but in the long run, stricter quality standards will undoubtedly regulate the healthier development of the entire Chinese medicinal material market.