Citric acid is one of the most widely used chemicals in the world for applications in food, beverages, pharmaceuticals, personal care, detergents, and others. The main suppliers for this additive are located in China and the United States, although there are other producing countries but with very low participation in the global market.

After COVID-19, industries began to experience sudden changes in the availability of raw materials, vessel space, and late shipments, among others, which also produced a sharp drop in exports of citric acid from Asia. Entire cities in quarantine, that were unable to produce, resulted in a severe lack of compliance with supply contracts and this explains the scarcity of this raw material so important for the chemical industry.

The factories are currently at full capacity. However, they are still working to supply the demand which was affected by the production cuts due to the pandemic. It is estimated that for the second half of 2022, long-term deliveries will continue to be affected. The current orders have approximate delivery dates for September 2022. We must also remember that there was confinement once again in several cities in China due to a new variant of COVID-19, which undoubtedly will affect the short-term production of this additive.

By Greilyn Rodríguez