Since 22 April, 2016, the Foreign Trade Commission of Brazil (known as the CAMEX) has announced to terminate the price agreement on citric acid/ citrate with 4 Chinese enterprises including Weifang Ensign Industry Co., Ltd. and imposed different degrees of anti-dumping duties on them. This move further surpassed the shrinking Brazilian market for China's citric acid.

The four Chinese citric acid enterprises facing anti-dumping duties from Brazil

Brazil used to be one of the most important export destinations for citric acid from China. In 2011, as an emerging market, it imported 30,000 tonnes of citric acid/ citrate from China, ranking fourth after the European Union, Indonesia and Japan.

However, affected by the anti-dumping measures, Brazil kept reducing the import of citric acid/ citrate from China. According to China Customs, China exported only 2,796 tonnes of citrate to Brazil, 2.6% of the total export volume. And the figure was 770 tonnes in Q1 2016, 2.1% of the total.

Exports of citric acid in China, Jan. 2014-March 2016

Note: Customs code: 29181400.
Source: China Customs

As anti-dumping measures continue to increase the export price of China's citric acid, Brazil has reduced the import volume of citric acid from China. This greatly impacts China's citric acid market which relies seriously on export. According to China Customs, in Q1 2016, China's export price to Brazil was USD1,257.49/t, USD439.39/t higher than the average export price.

What's more, the US, once the largest export destination, only imported 647 tonnes of citric acid/ citrate from China in Q1 2016, at a price as high as USD1,646.38/t. Also, China's citric acid is also priced higher than the average when exported to European countries due to the anti-dumping measures.

China’s export price of citric acid by country, March 2016

Although China's citric acid priced high when being exported to some regions affected by the anti-dumping measures, the export price of citric acid/ citrate continues to decline in China. In Q1 2016, the export price was USD720.99/t, down by 10.5% YoY. Though the price increased by 1.1% MoM in March, it still remained at low level.

Accordingly, the China's export volume of citric acid/ citrate rose steadily. In Q1 2016, the total export volume was 254,356 tonnes, increasing by 3% YoY, according to China Customs. The demand for citric acid/ citrate from some emerging markets like India and Mexico is growing, which relieves the sales China lost from traditional markets affected by the anti-dumping measures.

Thanks to this, Chinese citric acid enterprises can transfer their target markets to cope with the anti-dumping measures. CCM predicts that the exports of citric acid will still grow slowly in the future.

This article comes from Corn Products China News 1605, CCM

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.

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Tag: citric acid  corn

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