IndexBox has just published a new report: ‘China – Caramel – Market Analysis, Forecast, Size, Trends And Insights’. Here is a summary of the report’s key findings.

Last year, China recorded a sharp rise in caramel imports. The supplies into China grew from $80M in 2019 to $408M in 2020, or from 167K tonnes to 1.1M tonnes in physical terms. Thailand, Viet Nam and Myanmar remain the largest caramel suppliers, comprising 82% of Chinese imports. These three countries provided most of the increment in Chinese imports in 2020. The average caramel import price dropped by -21% y-o-y to $378 per tonne in 2020.

Chinese Caramel Imports by Country

In 2020, caramel imports into China skyrocketed from 167K tonnes in 2019 to 1.1M tonnes in 2020. In value terms, caramel imports surged from to $80M in 2019 to $408M (IndexBox estimates) in 2020.

Thailand (506K tonnes), Viet Nam (272K tonnes) and Myanmar (109K tonnes) were the main suppliers of caramel imports to China, together comprising 82% of total imports. These countries were followed by Malaysia, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic and Indonesia, which together accounted for a further 16%.

In value terms, the largest caramel suppliers to China were Thailand ($190M), Viet Nam ($101M) and Malaysia ($39M), together accounting for 81% of total imports. Myanmar, Indonesia and Lao People’s Democratic Republic lagged somewhat behind, together accounting for a further 12%.

Over the last year, China boosted the supplies from Thailand from $32M to $190M. Chinese imports from Viet Nam grew from $0.5M to $101M, while Myanmar’s exports to China rose from $1M to $26M. Among other countries, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Lao People’s Democratic Republic have also seen a rise in caramel shipments to China.

In China, the average caramel import price stood at $378 per tonne in 2020, decreasing by -21% against the previous year. Prices varied noticeably by the country of origin; the country with the highest price was Malaysia ($381 per tonne), while the price for Myanmar ($242 per tonne) was amongst the lowest. In 2020, the most notable rate of growth in terms of prices was attained by Myanmar, while the prices for the other major suppliers experienced more modest paces of growth.

Source: IndexBox Platform