Market Report: Food Ingredients
Guar:
The guar plant is native to India and Pakistan. Guar is obtained from the guar bean and is a fibre that is able to bind large amounts of liquid, so that a gel-like mass is created.
This season’s new guar crop in India is expected to be in between 6-8 million bags of guar seed (100 kg/each bag) which is equivalent to 190,000 tonnes of guar splits. The carry forward stock of guar splits is about 250,000 tonnes and the carry forward stock of guar seed is about 6 million bags (100 kg/each bag) which is equivalent to 170,000 tonnes of guar splits.All this would amount to approx. 600,000 tonnes of guar splits.
In the present market situation, international and domestic demand/ consumption of gum & powder is about 200,000 tonnes annually. Looking at this consumption, there would be enough stock in India for 2.5 to 3 years (including this year’s crop). There would be enough stock for the factories and plants to run with this consumption. Looking at the prevailing market scenario, it seems the market is not likely to see a significant hike for the next 12 months.
Locust Bean Gum:
Comparing this year's harvest with that of the previous year, this year’s volume is slightly better than last year’s.
For the time being, raw material contracts have been concluded for the next few months at the same price levels as the previous harvest, so we must expect the prices of locust bean gum to remain at the same level in the last quarter of the year.
The price that farmers pay for the fruit and the whole carob tree is also the highest. Due to the constant demand, we do not currently expect any price decline.
Psyllium:
The price of the raw material continues to rise. According to forecasts, the situation will only improve with the new harvest in February 2021. There are still rumours that the raw material for all factories in India will only last until December 2020.
Also due to the very bad pandemic situation in India, the manufacturers still have major delivery problems.
The shipments of all qualities are still being delayed. One reason is that our manufacturer has been unable to reach full capacity. On the other hand, our shipping companies have increased handling times and shipments take a long time to move. Sometimes it takes 15 to 20 days for them to be loaded onto the ship after clearing customs.
Pea Protein (80%):
Although RMB has appreciated by about 6% in the past months and the cost of pea raw material keeps increasing too, the manufacturer has been trying its best to keep the FOB price stable because of the poor market caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
This situation is expected to not change in the remaining moments of 2020. The CIF price in 2020 will therefore only vary according to the sea freight cost.
The price in 2021 will not increase sharply, but once demand increases after the market gets rid of the COVID-19 effect, the price will increase to cover the loss caused by the exchange rate and increasing costs of raw material.
Soy Protein:
The regular harvest of soy protein takes place at this time. Although it is now harvest time, the price of soybeans is not going down.
The Chinese government is still the main buyer and controls the price of soybeans to keep it stable. The current price is stable, and the manufacturer does not expect the price to return to the historic low of early 2020.
Our manufacturer has a new quality of soy protein that has already been approved for some of our customers.
Tara Gum:
Regarding the situation with tara, there were issues with gaining access to the raw material earlier this year due to the quarantine and curfew period in Peru. However, now the manufacturer is facing other problems with the 2nd harvest of the year, which began earlier this month, and is usually the larger of the two harvests.
The manufacturer usually counts on the September harvest to supply us with most of the material throughout the year, but the output of this harvest appears to be 40% less than most years, which means that availability of the raw material is much more limited.
Secondly, the manufacturer is facing this situation with the price of our commodity product, tara powder, being forced down by the gallic acid producers in China for too long a period. Therefore, the costs must be absorbed in the price of tara gum in order for the business to be sustainable. For all these reasons, the cost of the raw material has increased about 60% since last year.
We believe that this situation will only be temporary. Next year should hopefully bring a more abundant crop, and perhaps the pharmaceutical industry will allow us to increase the price of our commodity product, tara powder, which would allow the price of targe gum to be brought down to a more reasonable level. Nevertheless, even at this level now, prices of tara gum are still less than half that of LBG, so customers are continuing to use and purchase it.
Supro-E5:
Our new product SUPRO-E5 is a new top-grade, gold standard, emulsion-type soy isolate. E5 is made from non-GMO soybean. We collected soy protein samples from the market and made a direct comparison: in the middle is E5, apparently it has the most impressive extremely white colour, the whiteness level can reach 85%, which is just what is required for fish, chicken and bakery products. Its incredible emulsion stability provides a variety of options and formats for the widest range of meat products, such as doner kebab, hot dogs, ham, wieners and frankfurters.
The most typical usage ratio is 1:4:5, which is protein, oil and water. There is no sequence requirement for adding the oil and water., After blending, we get a white, soft gel, which turns tough and strong after a time. We then carry out a cup wiping test: as can be seen, more than 90 % of the sample stays in the cup. It can also be widely used for canned food, sea food, baking ingredients, flour etc. With its excellent functionality, it can help the food industry to create and develop new healthy and safe foods that taste good.
It can reduce formulation costs when used as an alternative to traditional animal-based proteins, such as meat or dairy. It can also meet consumer demands for sustainability – our soy protein isolate has a carbon footprint 8 to 80 times lower than dairy and meat proteins.
Now comes the most exciting 1:6:6 emulsion test, the same as the last one: protein comes first, then oil and water. After blending, the emulsion status is white and fine, and it shows excellent water and oil retention ability. We also did a heat and salt tolerance test, all showed excellent performance.
If you have any questions about the products and our offer, please do not hesitate to contact me:
Benjamin Dux
Head of Sales
Tel: +49 (0)40 - 300 501 8118
b.dux[at]tergroup.com