With an annual corn processing capacity of 700,000 tons, and products covering five major sectors including pharmaceutical raw materials and food additives, its products are exported to over 70 countries and regions. Foreign trade has become the company's core growth engine. As a manufacturing champion holding multiple international certifications such as the US FDA and EU CEP, Weifang Shengteng Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Shengteng Pharmaceutical") is providing a vivid example of traditional manufacturing companies "going global" through a dual-engine approach of "unreplicable technology + comprehensive certification coverage."
International certifications are the "golden key" for Shengteng Pharmaceutical to unlock the global market. Facing the technical barriers and cultural differences of different countries, the company has built a certification system covering both pharmaceuticals and food: in the pharmaceutical field, it has obtained US DMF registration, EU CEP registration, Japanese JDMF registration and pharmaceutical GMP certification, and US FDA certification, among other pharmaceutical registration certifications; in the food field, it has obtained multiple certifications such as FSSC22000, HALAL, and KOSHER, allowing its products to smoothly enter markets with different religious beliefs and consumer needs. These certifications are not merely qualifications, but rather hard currency for the company to integrate into the global supply chain, laying a solid foundation for its market layout in 70 countries.
Research and development innovation has built an "unreplicable" barrier to enhance the company's competitiveness in foreign trade. The company has two major R&D centers, three provincial-level and four municipal-level R&D platforms, and 64% of its 62 full-time R&D personnel hold master's degrees. It has accumulated 64 authorized patents and edited 23 enterprise standards. "Modified starch uses a special process, a technology that is unreplicable and has become one of the company's core competitive advantages," said Cui Hongbo. The current capacity of modified starch is 90,000 tons, which will reach 200,000 tons after expansion, making it the largest in the country and holding over 70% of the national market share after the expansion. In addition, some key indicators of injectable glucose are among the best in the domestic industry, making it a flagship product in overseas pharmaceutical markets, forming a "star product driving the entire line" foreign trade pattern.
Deep channel cultivation makes foreign trade growth more resilient. Adhering to the concept of "going global, going deep into the market, and connecting with others," the company has created a linkage model of "exhibition-driven traffic generation + door-to-door outreach." By participating in international exhibitions such as CPHI Europe and IFT Food Ingredients in the US, the company has built communication platforms and solidified its cooperation foundation through targeted customer visits, significantly improving market expansion efficiency and enabling its corn deep-processed products to gradually enter the mainstream global supply chain from 30 provinces in China.
Looking to the future, capacity upgrading and product optimization are key to expanding foreign trade. "We need to further strengthen the competitive advantage of our core products while promoting other products to achieve the same market position as our star products, thereby increasing our market share nationwide and even globally," said Cui Hongbo. He added that production line and technology optimization are crucial to achieving this goal. Currently, the company has planned three major projects: a 100,000-ton specialty corn starch project with a total investment of 200 million yuan, a 150,000-ton premium starch sugar project with a total investment of 400 million yuan, and a 220,000-ton high-end starch premix intelligent manufacturing project with a total investment of 300 million yuan. These three projects, with a total investment of 900 million yuan, will generate an additional 4.1 billion yuan in sales revenue upon completion, injecting new momentum into foreign trade growth.
The company is breaking down market barriers with international certifications, building a competitive moat with unreplicable technologies, and consolidating its market share through precise channel cultivation. In today's increasingly competitive global market, this company, rooted in the corn deep processing industry, is promoting "Made in China" raw materials and auxiliary materials to a broader global stage through technological iteration and capacity upgrades.
