India’s Covid-19 drug makers see Chinese raw material prices soar
Skip to main content
  • Home
  • Economy
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • World+Biz
  • Sports
  • Splash
  • Features
  • Videos
  • Long Read
  • Games
  • Epaper
  • More
    • COVID-19
    • Bangladesh
    • Infograph
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Thoughts
    • Podcast
    • Quiz
    • Tech
    • Subscribe
    • Archive
    • Trial By Trivia
    • Magazine
    • Supplement
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard
TUESDAY, MAY 17, 2022
TUESDAY, MAY 17, 2022
  • Home
  • Economy
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • World+Biz
  • Sports
  • Splash
  • Features
  • Videos
  • Long Read
  • Games
  • Epaper
  • More
    • COVID-19
    • Bangladesh
    • Infograph
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Thoughts
    • Podcast
    • Quiz
    • Tech
    • Subscribe
    • Archive
    • Trial By Trivia
    • Magazine
    • Supplement
  • বাংলা
India’s Covid-19 drug makers see Chinese raw material prices soar

Coronavirus chronicle

TBS Report
16 May, 2021, 11:15 am
Last modified: 16 May, 2021, 11:20 am

Related News

  • India’s wheat supplies for food schemes will be tight, data show
  • Oil prices fall on China's weak economic data
  • China's economy skids as lockdowns hit factories, retailers
  • India wheat export curb to be less explosive than prices suggest
  • Poor workers bear the brunt of India's heatwave

India’s Covid-19 drug makers see Chinese raw material prices soar

The demand for such drugs has increased as the number of new coronavirus infections has surpassed 350,000 every day, causing hospitals to run out of supplies

TBS Report
16 May, 2021, 11:15 am
Last modified: 16 May, 2021, 11:20 am
The price of Chinese raw materials Indian drug makers need to produce ivermectin has soared, a trade group says. Photo: Shutterstock via South China Morning Post
The price of Chinese raw materials Indian drug makers need to produce ivermectin has soared, a trade group says. Photo: Shutterstock via South China Morning Post

As India struggles to contain the second wave of Covid-19, the price of some raw materials imported from China has risen dramatically in recent weeks, according to industry groups.

According to the heads of two trade groups, ingredients for paracetamol, which helps relieve fever, and certain antibiotics, including Azithromycin, have increased by 30 to 40% since the start of the second wave, reports South China Morning Post.

The price of raw materials for drugs used to treat Covid-19, such as ivermectin, has risen by as much as 300 percent, according to Ashok Kumar Madan, executive director of the Indian Drug Manufacturers' Association.

The demand for such drugs has increased as the number of new coronavirus infections has surpassed 350,000 every day, causing hospitals to run out of supplies.

Though medical supplies have arrived from all over the world, India still relies on China for the majority of the active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) it requires to manufacture drugs to treat Covid-19 and other health issues.

"India is importing almost 70 per cent of our requirements from China, so when the impact comes it's basically coming with the APIs from China – it is an increase in the API prices, it's an increase in the packing material prices, and there are issues that freight prices have gone up, both air and sea," Madan said.

Sudarshan Jain, secretary general of the Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance, said the spike in prices was due to both an increase in demand and logistical issues, like fewer cargo flights from China.

There had been a significant impact on the prices of ingredients for paracetamol and some antibiotics, he said. Hospitals use paracetamol to keep fever and pain down, while antibiotics can be used to treat secondary bacterial infections in Covid-19 patients.

"If the raw materials are delayed or prices go up, it affects everyone," Jain said. "With pharmaceutical products, one does not change the ingredients and suppliers easily, it has to continue in order to maintain supplies."

Madan said that last month's decision by China's Sichuan Airlines to stop cargo flights for 15 days over disease control concerns had "spiked fears" and driven up API prices.

Flights from the state-owned carrier are expected to fully resume service this week.

Despite the recent hitch, China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi told his Indian counterpart Subrahmanyam Jaishankar last month that China would help ease the transport of medical supplies.

China's foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said on Friday that Beijing was working to keep the supply chain stable and that "no side should destabilise the [global] supply chain".

India's consul general in Hong Kong Priyanka Chauhan on Wednesday called for more efforts from the Chinese government to stabilise the prices of medical supplies and keep cargo flights in the air.

Supply shortages have been a theme in the global fight against Covid-19, with several countries, including the US, being criticised for hoarding vaccine doses and large pharmaceutical companies being called on to share intellectual property for vaccines and drugs to boost availability.

Jain said India's drug makers had been facing rising prices for key ingredients since the start of the pandemic and the situation was likely to remain difficult even after the spike in infections had levelled off.

"While the big companies continue because of their staying power, [the price rise] puts huge pressure on the small manufacturers," he said, adding that India's fixed pricing system for drugs meant the increases could not be passed on to consumers.

But both he and Madan said India's production capacity had not been hit, as drug makers strived to maintain consistency in supplies.

Madan said the industry was "taking things in its stride".

"Definitely we will be maintaining the production levels in the same capacity that is required so that we are able to cater to our domestic requirements and also we are able to meet our commitments for exports to other countries," he said. "We are not going to cut down any production."

Top News / World+Biz

India / COVID-19 / Drug makers / china / raw material cost

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • Are banks only gainers from dollar crisis?
    Are banks only gainers from dollar crisis?
  • PK Halder wants to return home
    PK Halder wants to return home
  • Exporters for continuation of 0.5% source tax for 5 years 
    Exporters for continuation of 0.5% source tax for 5 years 

MOST VIEWED

  • Customers wait in front of a restaurant in Beijing, China April 15, 2022. REUTERS/Tingshu Wang/Files
    China's economy skids as lockdowns hit factories, retailers
  • A medical worker in a protective suit collects a swab from a resident at a makeshift nucleic acid testing site inside a residential compound under lockdown, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Shanghai, China April 14, 2022. REUTERS/Xihao Jiang
    Shanghai aims for return to normal life from 1 June
  • South Korea's new President Yoon Suk-yeol signs a document as he works at the new Presidential office in Seoul, South Korea, May 10, 2022. Yonhap via REUTERS/File Photo
    S Korea says it will spare no effort to help North Korea amid Covid outbreak
  • North Korean leader Kim Jong Un wears a face mask amid the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) outbreak, while inspecting a pharmacy in Pyongyang, in this undated photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on May 15, 2022. KCNA via REUTERS
    Kim Jong Un orders North Korea military to 'stabilise' drug supply amid Covid outbreak
  • North Korea reports 15 more suspected Covid-19 deaths
    North Korea reports 15 more suspected Covid-19 deaths
  • Residents line up for nucleic acid tests during lockdown, amid the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic, in Shanghai, China, May 9, 2022. REUTERS/Aly Song
    Locked-down Shanghai to start gradually reopening malls, other businesses

Related News

  • India’s wheat supplies for food schemes will be tight, data show
  • Oil prices fall on China's weak economic data
  • China's economy skids as lockdowns hit factories, retailers
  • India wheat export curb to be less explosive than prices suggest
  • Poor workers bear the brunt of India's heatwave

Features

Bitcoin, by far the largest cryptocurrency, is a terrible substitute for government-issued money. Photo: Reuters

Crypto’s wild week offers a much-needed warning

11h | Panorama
Karst Stone Paper Journal: Write on indestructible stone paper

Karst Stone Paper Journal: Write on indestructible stone paper

12h | Brands
Pesky bugs do not stand a chance against this automatic indoor insect trap

Pesky bugs do not stand a chance against this automatic indoor insect trap

12h | Brands
Wazeenah: Turning furniture into a canvas

Wazeenah: Turning furniture into a canvas

11h | Brands

More Videos from TBS

Finland, Sweden decide to join NATO

Finland, Sweden decide to join NATO

3h | Videos
Where you can swim for Tk5

Where you can swim for Tk5

5h | Videos
Cultural activists pay tribute to Hassan Arif

Cultural activists pay tribute to Hassan Arif

8h | Videos
How PK Halder becomes a scamster

How PK Halder becomes a scamster

8h | Videos

Most Read

1
Representative Photo: Pixabay.
Bangladesh

Microplastics found in 5 local sugar brands

2
Mushfiq Mobarak. Photo: Noor-A-Alam
Panorama

Meet the Yale professor who anchors his research in Bangladesh and scales up interventions globally

3
Impact of falling taka against US dollar
Banking

Taka losing more value as global currency market volatility persists

4
Govt tightens belt to relieve reserve
Economy

Govt tightens belt to relieve reserve

5
Union Capital asked to return Tk100cr FDR to BATBC 
Banking

Union Capital asked to return Tk100cr FDR to BATBC 

6
How Bangladesh can achieve edible oil self-sufficiency with local alternatives
Bazaar

How Bangladesh can achieve edible oil self-sufficiency with local alternatives

The Business Standard
Top
  • Home
  • Entertainment
  • Sports
  • About Us
  • Bangladesh
  • International
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
  • Contact Us
  • Economy
  • Sitemap
  • RSS

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - oped.tbs@gmail.com

For advertisement- sales@tbsnews.net

Copyright © 2022 THE BUSINESS STANDARD All rights reserved. Technical Partner: RSI Lab