Ascorbic acid, also called vitamin C, is a water-soluble vitamin that is necessary for normal growth and development. It is an antioxidant that helps maintain the connective tissue protein collagen, protects against infection, and helps iron absorption. The global demand for VC is about 150,000 MT, and China is the largest supplier of Vitamin C.

 
China’s vitamin C production capacity has already reached more than 200,000MT. The major producers include CSPC Weisheng Pharmaceutical, Luwei Pharmacy, DSM Jiangshan, Northeast Pharm, Ningxia Qiyuan Pharmaceutical, Zhengzhou Tuoyang, etc.

(Data Source: China Customs)

 
According to the data of China Customs, China has exported a total of 86,862MT vitamin C in the first half of 2019, seeing a 26.9% year-on-year growth, while the export value has dropped to 357,846 thousand USD, seeing a 23.8% decrease from the same period of 2018.

(Data Source: China Customs)

 
It can be seen that the monthly vitamin C export quantity in the first six months of 2019 are much higher than the same period of 2018, despite of a slight fall in February.

(Data Source: China Customs)

 
China’s vitamin C export quantity has seen a steady increase in 2014 and 2017. Although the export in 2018 had 2.4% decrease, it can be expected the export in 2019 will have a significant increase based on the data in the first half.

(Data Source: China Customs)

 
However, the Vitamin C export value has shown a different path during the period. It displayed a slight decrease in 2015 and 2016, and then it peaked at 879,740 thousand USD in 2017, and after that, it showed another round of decrease.
 
Therefore, though the export quantity has seen a significant increase in 2019 due to the new production capacities, the market price is kept low due to the weak demand from the downstream sectors. It’s also expected that the low market price for Vitamin C may stay for a while, and the industry may be confronted with shuffles, such as the production capacity adjustment.