CCM: China’s largest corn variety right expires 2017 12-27-2016

Zhengdan 958 is China’s largest corn variety in the market. However, the patent for it will expire on January 1, 2017, with a huge impact on the Chinese corn market. A huge increase of seed production with a long term withdraw from the market are likely the consequences, according to CCM’s analysts.


Source: Baidu


The variety right for Zhengdan 958, a very resistant corn variety from northeast China, has been given by the Office for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants on January 1, 2002. The term of protection of variety rights expires after 15 years, according to the Regulations for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants, thus on January 1, 2017, the variety right for Zhengdan 958 will expire, which changes the corn market in China massively.


The duration of protection rights in China is highly discussed. On the one hand, most of the varieties have barely a lifetime of 15 years, which make the protection duration seem quite long. On the other hand, if a well-established variety as Zhengdan 958 loses the protection at the peak of its cycle, it is very unfortunate for the developers and may discourage further research for long term achieving varieties.


This special corn variety shows multi-resistance against several conditions like high weather conditions, pests, and diseases. These characteristics grant it a key promotion place by the Ministry of Agriculture of the People’s Republic of China for many years and even leads to the most planted corn variety in China with an area occupancy of about 40 million ha at the moment, according to CCM.


The five dealerships of Zhengdan 958 belong currently to Henan Qiule Seed Industry, Henan Jinwawa Seed industry, Henan Goldoctor Seeds, Wanxiang Doneed, and the China National Seed Group. The named companies are already strengthening their effort in R&D to imbalance the expected losses of Zhengdan 958 in 2017. Their focus has changed to other corn varieties like Dika 517, Zhengdan 1002, Jingke 968, and Dedan 5.


Impacts in the market 2017


Due to the expiring right of Zhengdan 958, CCM believes, that the seed production of this popular corn variety will sky rock in the beginning of 2017. It is rather seldom, that a mature and largely product like Zhengdan 958 is losing the protection at the peak of its product life cycle. Many companies, especially the companies with a weak own R&D department, will take this opportunity and try to get their own market share of Zhengdan 958. According to CCM, it is very typical, that once a successful product is losing the protection, many companies will flood the market with imitations.



However, this trend will not be stable and won’t last for long. It is likely, that Zhengdan 958 may vanish from the market in the long run, due to several reasons. The massive production of seeds will lead to a huge competitiveness and thus a price decrease of this already low priced corn variety, which makes it less profitable for companies.


Furthermore, there have always been copies and imitations of Zhengdan 985 in the market, which were sold secretly. The companies involved in this illegal trade can continue in a legal way in 2017, which probably lead to a stable increase without notable fluctuations.


All in all, the future of Zhengdan 958 may be not a promising one, according to the China National Seed Association. Without any protection right, the brand is free to the market, which may lead to a decreasing reputation and low-quality copies, that will finally vanish this once popular corn variety out of the market.


About CCM:

CCM is the leading market intelligence provider for China’s agriculture, chemicals, food & ingredients and life science markets. Founded in 2001, CCM offers a range of data and content solutions, from price and trade data to industry newsletters and customized market research reports. Our clients include Monsanto, DuPont, Shell, Bayer, and Syngenta. CCM is a brand of Kcomber Inc.  


For more information about CCM, please visit our online platformor get in touch with us directly by emailing econtact@cnchemicals.com or calling +86-20-37616606.


Tag: Corn

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