Statistics show that up to 70-80% of chemicals and pesticides used in the country are imported. The reason is that domestic raw materials for chemical production are scarce, and enterprises' ability to find alternative chemical sources is still limited.

Supply can only meet 50% of demand

According to the Vietnam Association of Manufacturers and Traders of Pesticides: Currently, pesticides in Vietnam are imported from more than 40 countries, but most are from China. Previously, imports from China accounted for over 80% of the total amount of pesticides imported into Vietnam. At this time, although output has decreased, it still accounts for about 70%. Besides, the number of enterprises producing pesticides in the country is still small, mainly simple processing and packaging...

Mr. Nguyen Xuan Sinh - Deputy Director of the Chemical Department (Ministry of Industry and Trade) - admitted: Currently, domestic demand for fertilizers is about 11 million tons of all kinds, of which inorganic fertilizers account for about 90%. With about 800 fertilizer production enterprises, Vietnam is considered a large consumer market for inorganic fertilizer chemicals imported from China. In addition, Vietnam's industrial chemical demand grows at an average of 9-10% per year, while the domestic supply only meets 50%, mainly for common chemical products, the rest must NK.

"In fact, chemicals used for industry do not meet domestic demand and are only enough for the production of pesticides and other basic products. According to calculations, each year up to 70% of the demand. urea demand can be imported, while ammonium phosphate must be imported 100%" - Mr. Nguyen Xuan Sinh informed.

Not only domestic enterprises in the field of pesticide production or fertilizer production, the general situation of domestic chemical enterprises is currently weak in capacity, dependent on imported raw materials from China.

Step by step meet domestic demand

According to the Department of Chemicals, to compete with imported goods, the cost of domestic chemical products must be cheaper. However, many Vietnamese chemical products are costly, so it is difficult to compete with imported goods in the market.

"That's why, the quality control of some imported chemicals for industry is an issue that state management agencies need to pay attention to," said Mr. Nguyen Xuan Sinh.

In addition, for imported chemicals used as raw materials for production, there is still a lack of sanctions by regulatory agencies to check quality, and businesses are mostly responsible for controlling themselves. The Department of Chemicals believes that chemical enterprises cannot be neglected, must be aware of the purpose and importance of the management and control of imported chemicals, so that the management of chemical products at enterprises is strictly controlled. tighter. Particularly for basic chemicals, this is an industry that needs to be prioritized for development to supply the chemical industry and many other industries. In the long term, it should be focused on development to proactively supply, create competitive products, gradually meet domestic demand, towards expanding export markets.

Accordingly, it is necessary to promote projects to produce domestic chemicals for consumption, and at the same time encourage production to diversify and improve quality to compete with imported goods. For the fertilizer product group, investment capital will be concentrated in plants producing nitrogenous fertilizers from natural gas, coal, a number of advanced technology NPK factories, and DAP factories. Pesticides focus on products that cause less environmental pollution to serve the development of the chemical industry in the coming time.

The master plan on development of production of basic chemical products in Vietnam to 2025, with a vision to 2035, sets a target to bring Vietnam's chemical industry to an average growth rate of 14-16%/year.