Herbicides: Movement

How Chinese and Indian weedkillers reach Brazilian farms

What this tab covers How it moves between countries: share of output traded, physical form and transport, the largest exporters and importers, main routes, India's trade, and handling rules in transit.

Trade in 2024 UN Comtrade, HS 380893

World exports $14.5 bn 107 reporting exporters · about 3.11 m t Largest exporter China 36.1% of world exports Largest importer Brazil 14.7% of world imports India imports $422.4 m
exports $1.55 bn #8 importer · #3 exporter

Where it is exported from and imported to, 2024

Chart: World map of the largest trade flows

Exporter (size = share of world exports) Importer (share of world imports) Shipping chokepoint UN Comtrade 2024, HS 380893: shares of reported world exports and imports by value. Country-to-country route lines are not available for this commodity yet. Hover a circle for values.

HS 380893: largest exporters

Country	Share	Value (US$)	Tonnes
China	36.1%	$5.22 bn	2.17 m
United States	11.3%	$1.63 bn	154k
India	10.7%	$1.55 bn	172k
France	7.4%	$1.08 bn	–
Germany	7%	$1.02 bn	62k
Israel	2.7%	$389.2 m	39k
Hungary	2.2%	$322.8 m	28k
Belgium	2.1%	$310.5 m	66k

HS 380893: largest importers

Country	Share	Value (US$)	Tonnes
Brazil	14.7%	$1.99 bn	424k
Canada	7.2%	$968.3 m	169k
Australia	6.4%	$870.8 m	283k
France	4.6%	$616.1 m	72k
United States	3.4%	$458.6 m	82k
Ukraine	3.3%	$452.1 m	71k
Germany	3.3%	$444.3 m	46k
India	3.1%	$422.4 m	88k

UN Comtrade 2024, reported by each country (exports by exporters, imports by importers), all partners. Some countries (for example Russia and Iran) do not report, so their shares are missing. HS codes can be broader than the tile: check the code before reading a share as the whole market.

How it moves

Measure	Figure
Share traded	high: probably over half of technical output crosses borders, since China and India export most of what they make (indicative)
How it moves	Technical powders and liquids in drums, bags and IBCs by container; glyphosate also moves as 62% IPA salt solution in ISO tanks and flexitanks (indicative).
Routes and chokepoints	China to Brazil (Santos, Paranagua), Argentina and the US; India (Mundra, Nhava Sheva) to the US, Brazil and Japan.
India	Herbicides were 37% of India's agrochemical exports in FY2025; the top five destinations took about 71% of herbicide exports, and Japan overtook Brazil as number two (Rubix, Jun 2025). HS 380893: India imported $422 million (3.1% of world imports, rank 8) and exported $1.55 billion (10.7% of world exports, rank 3) (UN Comtrade 2024).
Handling in transit	Many technicals ship as UN3077 or UN3082 (environmentally hazardous, class 9); paraquat is UN2781 or UN3016, class 6.1 toxic.