Sciencemadness Discussion Board

Are there chemicals that are actually more expensive in China than in other countries?

fusso - 14-2-2019 at 09:23

I wonder, are there any chemicals that are actually more expensive in China than in other countries?

RogueRose - 14-2-2019 at 11:06

I'm sure there are probably some pharmaceuticals that are. I've seen a number of chemicals that were impossible to find in either china or india but they were available in Russia, Poland and Ukraine.

There are a number of commodity chemicals where prices are either the same or even slightly more expensive in China. I've seen some that has huge production lines in Germany (BASF) where the quotes were more expensive from China than Germany in ton quantities.

I will say that there are a lot of commodity chemicals that are very competitively priced out of Europe as compared to China, and some times there is much less of a language barrier (using English as the language, but it is becoming more rare in China now - 10-15 years ago many "mistakes" were made - mis-shipments or major price/quantity differences and it was blamed on not understanding my language... I haven't seen that in almost 10 years though.)

I'm sure there are some rare earth materials or precious metals that are either not abundant in China or they import small-ish amounts, that the compounds are less expensive in other countries. Lithium carbonate/chloride is one that I know about for certain and there are many countries where it occurs naturally where it is less expensive. I know that China has tried to lock a couple countries into an exclusivity contract for extraction of LiCO3 (Peru/Bolivia come to mind) to supplement their sources and get a larger foothold in the battery market.

Deathunter88 - 14-2-2019 at 23:12

Most reagent chemicals here are indeed cheaper than in other countries. However, there are a few exceptions.

Firstly, OTC chemicals are a lot more expensive than reagent chemicals. What I mean is if you go buy sodium hypochlorite bleach, you pay like 5 dollars for 500ml. But if you just go ahead and buy the same amount of 10% sodium hypochlorite solution it will cost you just one or two bucks. The same goes for stuff like baking soda, sodium hydroxide, pretty much anything OTC that is relatively pure.

Secondly, some very niche chemicals are more expensive. The only one I know for sure right now are rubidium and cesium. Rubidium is currently around $120 a gram and cesium is at $100 a gram, which is quite a few times more expensive than other countries. The same might be true for others.

One more thing to keep in mind, many many chemicals are illegal here, so even though reagents are dirt cheap (comparably), and buying them is easy, you may be breaking the law. For instance, although you could probably buy a liter of acetone from a chemical supplier for a dollar, doing so is illegal. Same goes with for instance nitric acid, which is two dollars a liter.

fusso - 15-2-2019 at 04:13

Quote: Originally posted by RogueRose  
I'm sure there are probably some pharmaceuticals that are. I've seen a number of chemicals that were impossible to find in either china or india but they were available in Russia, Poland and Ukraine.

There are a number of commodity chemicals where prices are either the same or even slightly more expensive in China. I've seen some that has huge production lines in Germany (BASF) where the quotes were more expensive from China than Germany in ton quantities.
For example, what drugs? What commodity chems?
I assume the drugs are due to being patented outside China so importing to China make it more expensive in China right?

[Edited on 190215 by fusso]

fusso - 15-2-2019 at 07:00

Quote: Originally posted by Deathunter88  
Most reagent chemicals here are indeed cheaper than in other countries. However, there are a few exceptions.

Firstly, OTC chemicals are a lot more expensive than reagent chemicals. What I mean is if you go buy sodium hypochlorite bleach, you pay like 5 dollars for 500ml. But if you just go ahead and buy the same amount of 10% sodium hypochlorite solution it will cost you just one or two bucks. The same goes for stuff like baking soda, sodium hydroxide, pretty much anything OTC that is relatively pure.

Secondly, some very niche chemicals are more expensive. The only one I know for sure right now are rubidium and cesium. Rubidium is currently around $120 a gram and cesium is at $100 a gram, which is quite a few times more expensive than other countries. The same might be true for others.

One more thing to keep in mind, many many chemicals are illegal here, so even though reagents are dirt cheap (comparably), and buying them is easy, you may be breaking the law. For instance, although you could probably buy a liter of acetone from a chemical supplier for a dollar, doing so is illegal. Same goes with for instance nitric acid, which is two dollars a liter.
Is the "dollar" you using USD or CNY?