Want China Times, Staff Reporter 2015-01-01
Antibiotics producers in China are suspected of dumping waste water and polluting the country's drinking water sources, reports national broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV).
A pharmacist in Meishan, Sichuan province. (File photo/Xinhua) |
Antibiotics producers in China are suspected of dumping waste water and polluting the country's drinking water sources, reports national broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV).
Following
an investigation into pollution emitted from antibiotics producers around the
country, CCTV came out with the results of samples taken from drinking water,
drains and water sources near factories and livestock farms. Even water in the
vicinity of the Jining factory of Shandong Lukang Pharmaceutical, previously
considered a leader in pollution prevention facilities, was found containing
the highest levels of antibiotics in the study. The Ministry of Environmental
Protection has sent a team to the city for further investigation.
Other water
samples, especially those taking from water near major antibiotic factories,
tested positive for antibiotics.
The company
is one of four major antibiotic producers in China. Its 2013 financial report
shows 222 million yuan (US$35 million) of its 1.44 billion yuan (US$231
million) revenue came from active ingredients while another 227 million yuan
(US$36 million) came from semi-synthetic active ingredients and 970 million
(US$155 million) from medicines.
According
to the China Chamber of Commerce of Medicine & Health Products Importers
and Exporters, China produced 121,200 tons of antibiotics in 2013 and exported
34,300 tons, or US$2.19 billion in value. The active ingredients produced in
the country amounted to 70% of the global market.
Active
ingredients are costly and energy intensive to manufacture. Developed countries
have been focusing on producing high-end antibiotic products and have relocated
the production of active ingredients to other countries. The active ingredients
of multinational pharmaceutical companies are typically manufactured in
emerging countries. Around 180 million yuan (US$28 million) of Shandong Lukang
Pharmaceutical's revenue in 2013 came from other countries.
Cai
Dongchen, chairman of CSPC Pharmaceutical Group, said active ingredient
manufacturing is inefficient and water treatment is costly. China also lacks
the technologies and equipment for cleaning the materials during the production
process, said the chairman.
Sources
familiar with Shandong Lukang Pharmaceutical said Chinese antibiotic producers
will, like their European counterparts, be forced to relocate production sites
if national environmental protection standards are stringently enforced.
Stuck in
the upstream production process leaves the industry will little room for profit
on manufacturing low-end active ingredients. Tighter government controls on the
use of antibiotics are further squeezing industry margins. Antibiotic uses in
hospitals have dropped from 68% in 2010 to 53.5% in 2013, according to the
report.
Some
antibiotic producers are redirecting funds set aside for saving energy and
reducing carbon emissions to improving their production in order to compete on
the market, said an industry insider.
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