Despite Global Toothpaste Trade Slows Down, China Boosts Its Exports

IndexBox has just published a new report: 'World - Toothpaste, Denture Cleaners And Other Dentifrices - Market Analysis, Forecast, Size, Trends And Insights'. Here is a summary of the report's key findings. 

Global toothpaste imports reduced modestly to $4.1B in 2020. The U.S., Russia, and the UK constitute the largest dentifrice importers worldwide, while China leads global exports. China managed to increase its exports both in physical and value terms last year despite the drop in global trade. Russia remains the largest importer of toothpaste from China, accounting for nearly 14% of Chinese exports.

Global Toothpaste Imports by Country

Global toothpaste imports shrank to 928K tonnes in 2020, waning by -2% compared with the year before. In value terms, toothpaste imports reduced modestly to $4.1B (IndexBox estimates) in 2020. 

The countries with the highest levels of toothpaste imports in 2020 were the U.S. (53K tonnes), Russia (46K tonnes), the UK (39K tonnes), Germany (36K tonnes), Canada (29K tonnes), Italy (28K tonnes), France (27K tonnes), China (27K tonnes), Malaysia (26K tonnes), Japan (26K tonnes), Poland (24K tonnes) and Hong Kong SAR (23K tonnes), together resulting at 41% of total import. The Netherlands (22K tonnes) followed a long way behind the leaders.

In value terms, the largest toothpaste importing markets worldwide were China ($223M), the U.S. ($200M) and Canada ($181M), with a combined 15% share of global imports. Germany, the UK, France, Russia, the Netherlands, Poland, Italy, Malaysia, Hong Kong SAR and Japan lagged somewhat behind, together accounting for a further 29%. Malaysia emerged as the fastest-growing importer of dentifrices in 2020, ramping up the supplies from $95M to $101M over the last year. 

The average toothpaste import price stood at $4,418 per tonne in 2020, remaining relatively unchanged against the previous year. There were significant differences in the average prices amongst the major importing countries. In 2020, the country with the highest price was China, while Japan was amongst the lowest. In 2020, the most notable rate of growth in terms of prices was attained by Germany, while the other global leaders experienced more modest paces of growth.

World’s Largest Toothpaste Exporters

In 2020, China (213K tonnes), distantly followed by Poland (95K tonnes), Thailand (68K tonnes), Slovakia (67K tonnes), Germany (66K tonnes) and the UK (43K tonnes) represented the main exporters of toothpaste, denture cleaners and other dentifrices, together constituting 62% of total exports. Mexico (34K tonnes), France (25K tonnes), the U.S. (23K tonnes), India (23K tonnes), Guatemala (15K tonnes) and Viet Nam (14K tonnes) took a relatively small share of total exports.

In value terms, the largest toothpaste supplying countries worldwide were China ($415M), Germany ($385M) and Poland ($370M), together accounting for 31% of global exports. These countries were followed by Slovakia, the U.S., Thailand, the UK, Mexico, France, India, Guatemala and Viet Nam, which together accounted for a further 39%.

Despite last year drop in global toothpaste imports, China exceeded to boost its exports by +9.3 y-o-y in physical terms and by +5.7% y-o-y in value terms. Russia became the key destination for toothpaste exported from China, accounting for nearly 14% of Chinese exports. 

Source: IndexBox Platform