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The top five exporters of pharmaceutical goods in 2019
were Germany (USD 98.4 billion), Switzerland, Ireland, United
States, and the Netherlands, while in medical instruments,
appliances, and diagnostic apparatus the export leader in 2019 was
the United States (USD 46.2 billion), followed by Germany, China
(mainland), the Netherlands and Mexico.
The unquestionable leader in pharmaceuticals imports in
2019 was the United States, representing 19.7% of global
imports.
The largest year on year growth in 2019 in medical
instruments, appliances, and diagnostic apparatus imports was noted
for China (mainland) and it reached 8.0%.
The commodities including the respiration apparatus (HS
code 9019) as well as breathing appliances and gas masks (HS code
9020) noted extremely high increases in China (mainland) imports
(Jan-Feb 2020/Jan-Feb 2019).
Ford, GE, and 3M have joined their forces in
ventilators and respirators production; their partnership has been
called "Project Apollo".
Automotive industry will be able to produce hundreds of
thousands of ventilators by early to mid-May 2020.
As the COVID-19 pandemic prolongs and its impact is visible on
the increasing number of economies and particular industry sectors
all over the world, it has also brought attention to
pharmaceuticals and medical instruments market and the trade flow
of these commodities.
This report is focusing especially on global exports and imports
of two selected IHS Markit GTA Forecasting commodities:
pharmaceutical goods and medical instruments, appliances and
diagnostic apparatus, which are based on international HS 4-digit
classification. Detailed descriptions, as well as included HS4
codes, are provided in the reference tables at the bottom of the
page.
Top exporters in 2019
The trade of pharmaceutical goods accounted for 3.2% of total
world merchandise trade in 2019 and according to GTA Forecasting
estimations, the top five exporters of these goods were Germany,
Switzerland, Ireland, United States, and the Netherlands. Germany
exports amounted to 98.4 billion USD, which represented 15.9 % of
global pharmaceutical goods exports in 2019. The leader's main
trade partners were the United States, Netherlands, and
Switzerland, accounting for 16.5 %, 11.8 % and 8.5 % of total
Germany pharmaceuticals exports, respectively. Germany was far
ahead of any other exporter in this market, with Switzerland and
Ireland, each making up over 10% of total world pharmaceuticals
exports.
As far as medical instruments, appliances, and diagnostic
apparatus are concerned, the export leader in 2019, according to
GTA Forecasting estimates, was the United States, with the value of
exports accounting for USD 46.2 billion, and followed by Germany,
China (mainland), the Netherlands and Mexico. In 2019, the US
represented 19.6% of the global export value, while Germany and
China made up 12.6 % and 7.5%, respectively. The US main trade
partners in 2019 were Netherlands, Japan and China (mainland), with
a share of 12.8%, 10.2% and 9.9% of its total medical products
export.
Top importers in 2019
The unquestionable leader in pharmaceuticals imports in 2019 was
the United States, representing 19.7% of global imports. The
country imports reached USD 122 billion and increased by 6.8% in
comparison to the year 2018. The top of the ranking includes also
Germany, Netherlands, Belgium and United Kingdom with shares in
global pharmaceutical goods imports reaching 8.7%, 6.0%, 5.2%, and
5.1%, respectively.
In 2019, the greatest year over year growth, except for the US,
was noted for the United Kingdom (4.9%) and the Netherlands (3.3%).
Belgium marked a minor growth of 0.2%, while Germany was the only
one from the top five importers in 2019 marking a decline of
1.9%.
United States was also the main importer of medical instruments,
appliances, and diagnostic apparatus, with import value reaching
USD 50.2 billion USD, in this case making up 21.3% of the total
imports in the market, according to GTA Forecasting. The country
was followed by the Netherlands, Germany, China (mainland) and
Japan. The largest year on year growth in 2019 was noted, however,
for China (mainland) and it reached 8.0%, followed by US (7.5%) and
Japan (2.8%). Germany and the Netherlands marked an increase of
1.9% and 1.3%, respectively.
The situation and prospects for 2020
Due to the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic at the beginning of
2020, the governments of affected countries need to take protective
measures and provide specialized medical equipment and apparatus to
their healthcare institutions. We are not able to see the impact on
trade flows data for most of the European countries yet, as in the
region the pandemic spread took place mostly in March 2020 and the
official data come in with a delay.
However, when it comes to China, we can analyze the IHS Markit Global Trade Atlas
data for the first two months of 2020, which can serve as an
example of market behavior. The data are reported by China for
January and February in a cumulative form, nevertheless, we can
compare it to the corresponding period of 2019 and it is
interesting to see that although in general imports of the medical
equipment and apparatus noted a decline of 4.4% (Jan-Feb
2020/Jan-Feb 2019), imports of particular products soared. Looking
at the HS-4digit level commodities, an extremely high increase has
been noted in China's import value for the commodities including
the respiration apparatus (HS code 9019) as well as breathing
appliances and gas masks having mechanical parts and/or replaceable
filters (HS code 9020). The spikes reached 74.3% and 33.8%,
respectively (Jan-Feb 2020/Jan-Feb 2019).
Taking under consideration the situation of China as a
manufacturing hub and the largest exporter of goods to the world,
the COVID-19 brought a huge negative impact on China exports value
in general, still in the medical instruments, appliances and
diagnostic apparatus we can observe a drop of only 3.5% (Jan-Feb
2020/Jan-Feb 2019).
From the producers' perspective, on the other hand, we know that
the coronavirus has also led to a massive shutdown of plants across
multiple industrial sectors, one of which is the automotive
industry. The automakers across the US and Europe have declared
temporary plant closures to slow the virus spreading. According to
the latest news provided by Reuters, Ford, GE, and 3M have joined
their forces and switch their production lines to ventilators and
respirators needed for coronavirus infected patients all over the
world. Their partnership has been called "Project Apollo" after the
Apollo 13 mission, during which an oxygen tank failed forcing the
astronauts to make a quick fix to land safely. The Chief Executive
of Ford states that the automotive industry will be able to produce
hundreds of thousands of ventilators by early to mid-May 2020. Some
of the European automotive plants may also adjust their production
lines, as Ford is already holding discussions with the British
government.
As the production of medical equipment starts to soar across
automotive plants in the US and Europe, then there is a possibility
that we would observe significant changes in medical equipment
trade flows during the coming months of 2020.
Posted 08 May 2020 by Katarzyna Skrzypek, Senior Economist, Maritime & Trade, IHS Markit
