...Many chemical research institutes and flavors manufacturers also engage in the study on flavors. The famous ones are:CAS Guangzhou Chemical Research InstituteThis institute is strong in the research on flavors made from gum turpentine. Guangxi Wuzhou Wanlong Flavor Co. Ltd. and Xiamen Doingcom Chemical Co. Ltd., the two major flavor manufacturers specializing in gum turpentine derivatives, both got technical assistance from CAS Guangzhou Chemical Research Institute in the establishment.
...
http://www.cnchemicals.com/maindocs/marketreports/samples/flavorfragrances/Flavor_2001.htm
Market Survey on Flavors Industry in China
--- A preliminary research
Released Date: June 2006
Importance:
Copyright by Guangzhou CCM Chemicals Co., Ltd. Suggest for reading instead of copying or downloading. Any distribution or citation of this article for whatever use is forbidden.
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Researched & Prepared by:
Guangzhou CCM Chemicals Co., Ltd.
Guangzhou, P. R. China
Updated in September 2001
Copyright by Guangzhou CCM Chemicals Co., Ltd. (P. R. China)
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Content
Methodology 5
Difination & Explanation 6
Executive Summary 8
Map of location of provinces in China 9
Review on Flavor History in China 10
Overall Situation of flavor & fragrance Industry in the Recent Years 15
Geological Distribution of Flavors Production in China 17
Situation of Natural Flavors in Brief 21
Situation of Synthetic Flavors in Brief 24
Foreign Involvement in the flavor & fragrance Industry in China 26
Research Institute of Flavors in China 27
Government Management on Flavors Industry in China 29
Government Target & Plan for Flavors Industry 31
Conclusion & Suggestion 33
Appendix I: Introduction to Major Flavor Manufacturers in China
Shanghai Flavors General Factory 34
Guangzhou Baihua Flavor Co. Ltd. 34
Shanghai Xin Hua Flavor Factory 35
Shanghai Peacock Fragrance & Flavor Co. Ltd. 36
Tianjin Flavor Factory 36
Shandong Tengzhou Wutong Flavors Co. Ltd. 37
Zhejiang Hangzhou Flavors Factory 38
Appendix II: Situation of Major Flavors in China
Natural Flavors 39
Essential Oil 39
- Mint oil 39
- Eucalyptus oil 40
- litsea cubeba oil 40
- Citronella oil 41
- Aniseed star oil 41
- Cassia Oil 42
- Camphor Oil 42
- Other essential oils 43
Concrete & Absolute 44
- Jasmine concrete & absolute 44
- Jasminum Grandiflorum concrete & absolute 44
- Other concretes & absolutes 44
Tincture 45
Musk tincture 45
Other tincturers 45
Synthetic Flavors 46
1. Hydrocarbon Chemicals 46
Alpha Pinene & Beta Pinene 46
Isoprene 46
2. Alcohol Flavors 46
Phenyl Ethyl Alcohol 46
Terpineol 47
Menthol 47
Linalool 48
Benzyl Alcohol 48
3. Aldehyde Flavors 49
Vanillin and Ethyl vanillin 49
Heliotropin 50
Citral 50
Lilial 50
4. Acetone Flavors 50
Synthetic Camphor 51
Acetophenone 51
Acetyl Cedrene 51
Ionone & methylionone 51
5. Carboxylic Acid Flavors 52
Lactic Acid 52
Phenylacetic Acid 52
6. Ester Flavors 53
Benzyl Acetate 53
Benzyl Benzoate 53
20 Linalyl Acetate 53
Salicylate series 53
7. Lactone Flavors 53
Coumarin 53
8. Phenol Flavors 54
Guaiacol 54
Maltol & Ethyl Maltol 54
9. Ether Flavors 54
Cedryl methyl ether 54
Anisole 54
10. Musk Flavors 55
Musk xylol 55
Musk Ketone 55
Musk Ambrette 55
11. Nitrile Flavors, Sulfurous Flavors and heterocyclic Flavors 55
Nitrile series 55
Mercaptan series 55
Sulfide series 56
Furan series 56
Pyrrole series 56
Pyridine series 56
Pyrazine series 57
Tiazole series 57
Appendix III. The Brief Introduction to Foreign Companies in China
IFF 58
Givaudan 58
Rodia 59
Firmenich 59
Quest 60
Takassago 60
H & R Cosfra 60
Dragoco 60
Melchers 61
Methodology
…… (Omitted)
Definition & Explanation:
Rate: 1USD=8.27RMB
Classification of flavors
In this report, we classify the flavors into natural flavors and synthetic flavors. The natural flavors contain animal flavors and plants flavors. We focus on plant flavors. In presenting the report, we systematize both the animal flavors and plant flavors by the forms of final products. And the dicussion is undertaken along this rout. The raw materials for natural flavors, like spice, are excluded from the present report.
The synthetic flavors contain isolates, each of which is separated from natural flavor(s) by chemical processing and containing a single compound, like menthol, and chemical synthetic flavors, which are made by the chemical reaction of petrochemicals, like phenyl ethyl alcohol. In presenting the report, we systematize both the isolates and the chemical synthetic flavors by the chemical functional group. And the discussion is undertaken along this rout. The classification has been shown in the following figure.
Figure 1. Classification of flavors
The production of synthetic flavors
Synthetic chemicals have many applications and most of them are consumed in more fields than as flavors. In this report, the productions of synthetic flavors refer to the quantities of synthetic chemicals that are used for flavor purpose only. The quantities for other purposes are not included in the calculation. E.g. the linalool made by acetyl acetone method is for vitamin E purpose and thus is excluded from our discussion.
Actual production
Unless otherwise stated, the actual production of each specific flavor is estimated on base of the situation in year 2000.
Major manufacturers
For each specific flavor, there may be many manufacturers in China. Usually we do not list them, according to the principle of the present service. However we select some major flavor manufacturers and introduce the situation in details.
Import & Export Situation of Flavors
According to the original schedule, the import & export situation of all flavors is summarized and presented in a separte part. But in preparing the report, we found some information will overlap in the later paragraph. So we introduce the import & export situation in the discussion on specific flavor items in appendix II. In addition, during the discussion import & export situation of specific flavor items, we only focus those flavors that have separate HS codes.
Fragrance
In order to better understand the flavors industry, some situation of fragrance has been revealed in the parts of: History, Current Production Situation and Foreign Involvement.
Foreign:
In this report, foreign means anything or any activity outside Mainland P. R. China. E.g., foreign countries mean countries except Mainland China.
Ownership:
State owned:
The whole asset of a factory/company is invested and owned by the local/central government.
Private owned:
The whole asset of a factory/company is invested and owned by individual person. The owner has his/her own right to the management of the factory/company.
Joint venture:
A company invested by foreign company (companies) and Chinese company (companies). The two or more cooperate partners share the profit on mutual benefit. The Chinese partner maybe an individual or a state owned unit.
Local governments
Local governments usually refer to provinces, counties, etc. that are under the administration of central government.
Executive Summary
China is rich in aromatic plant resources.
The annual production of natural flavors is around 20,000-25,000MT/year and nearly half of which has been exported to oversea countries.
The strength of Chinese natural flavors production lays in essential oil, most important of which include mint oil, eucalyptus oil, litsea cubeba oil, cassia oil, aniseed star oil.
The annual production of synthetic flavors is around 70,000-75,000MT/year. Also over 50% of synthetic flavors are exported every year.
The Chinese isolate flavors are competitive in the world, most important of which include menthol, natural citral and heliotropin.
Generally China is weak in the R & D work of chemical synthetic flavors due to the fact that China lacks capital.
Some Chinese synthetic flavors are competitive in the international market not for their high quality but for their cheap price, like phenyl ethyl alcohol, vanillin.
Map of Location of Provinces in China
Review on Flavors History in China
In China flavors are closely associated with the living standard of Chinese people and the flavors industry develops along food industry, feed industry, tobacco industry and beverage industry. History has seen the Chinese flavors industry growing from small to big, from mill production to mass production, from stimulation to innovation, from import-dependent to export-target.
The usage of flavors can be traced back to the year 2023 B.C., when Chinese people fete the god with flavors. Over a long time in history flavors have been rare and valuable that high officials could afford them. It is only since Qing Dynasty, around 19th century, that flavors began to enter the civilian family.
Shanghai is the first city in China to start the small-scale production of flavors aiming for the civilians. The flavors at that time were mainly used for cosmetics application. In early 19th century, professional cosmetics mill was born in Shanghai area. In the next century Shanghai came to be one of active market for flavors factories all over the world. By early 20th century, most famous European companies had entered Chinese market, mainly Shanghai, in order to sell flavors and fragrance. These companies include Givaudan, Naarden, Lautier Fils, etc. In the same time Chinese manufacturers began to produce fragrance, with Chinese brand, buy using the imported flavors.
In 1930s there were three fragrance factories in China, Jian Chen Yang Hang Company, Jia Fu Flavor Company and Bai Li Chemical Factory. A number of local technicians had got professional training in these factories, which made it possible to produce flavors in China.
Same as the development of flavors industry in the oversea countries, the demand from fragrance industry and the profit of flavor production pushed the Chinese merchants to start flavor production by their own. The commercial production of flavors began in 1930s. At the beginning, the Chinese people made natural flavors. They introduced aromatic plant species and cultured them in China. In the same time the Chinese people tried to source other plants within China, for natural flavors purpose. Later the Chinese people began to make isolate. In 1940s, the Chinese menthol, White Beer Brand, had been exported to oversea countries.
However the Liberation War in 1940s almost destroyed the young & weak industry of flavors & fragrance. Most foreign companies quitted the Chinese market before the foundation of People Republic of China in 1949.
After the foundation of People’s Republic of China, the Chinese flavors industry resumed and grew up step by step.
1950-1956
China resumed the flavors & fragrance production.
Some new flavors factories found in this period. In 1950, Tianjin Fuhua Flavor factory found to produce flavors for local people. In 1951, Shanghai Flavors Industry Association formed, which is made up of 30 members. This symbolized the beginning of Chinese flavors industry. But the production scales in these Chinese factories were rather small.
During 1950s flavor factories in Shanghai area sent staffs to Hunan province, Jiangxi province, Guangxi province to exploit natural aroma resources, and to steam essential oil in situ. It was during this time that Chinese people developed Litsea cubeba oil. Later the Chinese people began to make some simple synthetic flavors, which had to be imported in the past. These flavors include terpineol, geraniol, hydrocitronellal, ionone, linalool, linalyl acetate.
By 1955, there had been 34 manufacturers of flavors & fragrance. The total number of employees in this industry was 700. The production of flavors & fragrance in China reached to 1,800MT/year, almost two times of that in 1952. The total production output value is RMB47.59 million/year.
1956-1965
During this time the Chinese flavor & fragrance industry began to grow systematically. The blueprint for this industry was also drafted.
In 1956, China Research Institute of Flavor & fragrance Industry established.
China also planned to build Sichuan Chongqing Natural Flavor Research Institute.
The natural flavors industry grew relatively faster than synthetic flavors. In the end of 1950s, most provinces in southern China had their own production bases of natural flavor.
With the support from the former Ministry of Food Industry, four production bases of flavors & fragrance formed in Shanghai, Tianjin, Shenyang and Guangzhou. A number of factories aiming the natural flavor production set up, including:
Guangzhou Baihua Flavors Factory
Hangzhou Flavors Factory
Guilin Flavor General Factory
Fuzhou Flavors Factory
Fujian Zhangzhou Flavors Factory
Also in this period the Chinese factories employed solution extraction method in the actual production. In mid 1960s, they developed the cold pressing technology and cold grinding technology. This technology had been used to:
produce sweet orange oil in Zhejiang Huangyan Flavors Factory;
produce lemon oil and other essential oil of citrus in Chengdu Flavors Factory, etc.
Meanwhile China began to synthesize some complicated flavors, including vanillin, coumarin, phenyl ethanol alcohol, methyl ionone, synthetic sandalwood “803”, etc.
By 1965, there were 36 manufacturers of flavors and fragrance. The production of natural flavors, synthetic flavors and fragrance in 1965 was 529MT, 1,400MT and 800MT, respectively. There were 3,600 employees engaging in this industry. The total production output value was RMB90.70 million/year.
1966-1976
The culture revolution occurred during this period and the Chinese flavor & fragrance industry was damaged a great extent.
In Guangdong, Fujian, Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Shandong, a large number of aromatic plants like jasmine, rose, white orchid, citronellal had been chopped. Some people suggested protecting the flavors industry, which got positive response from local factories. State Flavor Industry Liaison Unit established. Thus the flavors & fragrance industry avoided the thorough destroy in the culture revolution.
In the early 1970s, China began to introduce new natural flavor species. These new natural flavor species include:
Geranium oil and Ylang oil in Kunming Flavors Factory
Jasmine grandiflorum concrete in Guangzhou Baihua Flavors Factory
Geranium oil in Shanghai
Sage clary oil in Henan province
Lavender oil in Xinjiang province.
Meanwhile China has developed some new natural flavors themselves, including:
Orris concrete in Zhejiang province and Yunnan province
Ureka and lemon oil in Sichuan province
Anglica absolute in Yunnan province and Guangdong province
Champac concrete in Fujian province
Chiccory concrete in Jiangsu province
Citronellal concrete in Jiangsu province
Chrysanthemum concrete in Zhejiang province
Ginger concrete in Zhejiang province
Peppermint oil in Xinjiang, Jiangsu province
Sweet wormwood oil in Gansu province
Vanilla bean tincture in Yunnan province, Hainan province.
By 1975, there were 38 flavors & fragrance manufacturers and there were 3,800 employees in this industry. The total production output value is RMB509.60 million/year.
1976-1985
The culture revolution ended. China to restarted the flavors & fragrance industry and began to promote Chinese product to the world.
In the end of 1970s some provinces locating in northern China can also produce natural flavors.
In 1979, China held an exhibition of flavors & fragrance products in Beijing, reporting to the central government the achievement of flavors & fragrance industry in the past few decades. The exhibition was successful. And the flavor & fragrance industry got attention from central government. The Chinese flavor & fragrance industry began to step forward to the new age.
Entering the 1980s, with the open of China to the world, many domestic factories began to import production facilities, technologies from oversea companies, to enlarge the production capacity, to send employees to overseas for training, etc. Many research institutes and universities involved the research on flavors production. The Chinese flavor industry began to bloom at faster speed than ever.
The Chinese government encouraged the factories to joint venture with oversea companies. But few of oversea companies invested in China, because the investment environment was still not attractive. In this time Chinese flavors began to enter international market with increasing quantity.
In this period the “Sixth-Five-Year Plan” for flavor & fragrance industry had been drafted and was approved in 1981. In 1984, China Association of Fragrance Flavor and Cosmetic Industry founded.
By 1985, there were 83 flavor & fragrance manufacturers and there were 10,000 employees in this industry. The total production output value was RMB1,482 million/year.
1986-1995
China fastened the development of flavor & fragrance industry.
China settled to work out the plans & regulation for the flavor & fragrance industry, including
“The Seventh-Five-Year Plan”
“The Eighth-Five-Year Plan”
“The Ninth-Five-Year Plan”
“The Plan for Year 2010”
The Administration System for Flavor & Fragrance Industry
During this time China carried out economic reform and encouraged the development of private owned enterprises. A lot of private companies entered the market, which was almost monopolized by state owned factories in the past.
By 1995, there were total 400 flavors & fragrance manufacturers in China, nearly 300 manufacturers are not state owned factories. This symbolized that the infrastructure of flavors & fragrance industry has changed, private owned and foreign owned company accounting to large part.
Since 1990 foreign companies began to launch the Chinese market. By 1995, there are 12 joint ventures in China. These joint ventures locate in Shanghai, Guangdong, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Henan, Yunnan, Sichuan and Tianjin.
The participation of private companies and joint ventures stimulated the production of both flavors & fragrance. From 1986 to 1995, the Chinese flavors & fragrance industry increased about three times.
During this time the management on flavors & fragrance improved. By 1995, China had drafted 103 standards for flavor & fragrance products.
Overall Situation of flavor & fragrance Industry in the Recent Years
Since 1996, the growth of Chinese flavors & fragrance industry is not as rapid as did in the past.
By 1998 China can produce 950 kinds of flavors. It is expected that China can produce over 1,000 species of flavors at present.
Table 1. Flavor species in China
Year
1954
1965
1975
1985
1988
1990
1998
Synthetic flavor
50
100
200
450
N/A
600
700
Natural flavor
10
50
100
150
N/A
250
250
Total
60
150
300
600
600
850
950
Note: N/A – not available
By 1999, there were more than 50,000 people engaging in this industry. The annual output value of flavor & fragrance was RMB 10 billions and the annual profit from flavor & fragrance industry was about RMB 3 billions. The production value of the relevant industries of flavor & fragrance was RMB500 billion.
According to the Ninth-Five-Year Plan drafted in 1986, the production of flavor & fragrance industry should be 78,000 MT/year by end of 2000. But the total production of flavor & fragrance in 1999 already reached to 150,000MT. The actual development pace of flavor & fragrance is much faster than the people expected in the past.
At present, the percentage of sales value of flavors to the total sales value of flavors & fragrance has been around 46-50%. Among the sales value of flavors, natural flavors & synthetic flavors each accounts to half of the total. In 2000, the sales value of flavors was RMB7.507 billion, amounting to 51% of the total sales values. While the sales value of fragrance was RMB7.286 billion, amounting to 49% of the total.
Nowadays there are 600 enterprises producing flavors and fragrances, two third for flavors and one-third for fragrance. But nearly 90% of these manufacturers are small in production scale. There are around 10 manufacturers with annual sales value of over RMB100 million. These manufacturers include:
Shanghai Peacock Fragrance & Flavor Co. Ltd.
Zhejiang Hangzhou Flavors Factory, annual sales value
Guangzhou Baihua Flavor Co., Ltd., annual sales value
Shanghai H & R Cosfra Fragrance Co. Ltd.
IFF Hangzhou Flavors & Fragrance Co. Ltd.
Suzhou Firmenich Co. Ltd.
Guangdong Zhaoqing Perfumery Co. Ltd.
……
Table 2. The situation of flavor & fragrance industry in the past
Year
1980
1986
1988
1990
1992
1994
1996
1997
1999
Flavor (MT)
7,000
16,745
23,473
18,373
20,857
46,340
69,500
76,644
75,000
Fragrance (MT)
6,600
17,422
20,210
17,156
25,035
37,237
72,500
78,273
75,000
Total (MT)
13,600
34,167
43,683
34,529
45,892
83,577
142,000
154,917
150,000
Total production output value (RMB million)
460
N/A
N/A
2,860
N/A
8,400
9,000
N/A
10,000
Number of manufacturers
N/A
N/A
N/A
120
246
N/A
410
N/A
580
Note: N/A – not available
Geological Distribution of Flavors Production in China
Geologically the Chinese flavors manufacturers can be allocated to the following main areas:
Shanghai Area
This area covers the Shanghai city, Zhejiang province, Anhui province and Jiangsu province. The manufacturers in this area are strong in the production of isolate and synthetic flavors.
Southern China Area
This area covers the Guangdong province, Guangxi province, Fujian province, Hunan province and Hainan province. The manufacturers in this area are strong in the production of essential oil.
Southwest area
This area covers Sichuan province, Guizhou province and Yunnan province. This area is rich in natural plants.
Here we discuss each area by major provinces:
1) Shanghai City
Shanghai is a strong chemical industry base in China. It is an old city in China produce natural flavors and synthetic flavors. In the recent decades, Shanghai has been an active supplier of synthetic flavors, important of which include menthol, vanillin, phenyl ethyl alcohol, etc. At present, most famous flavor & fragrance suppliers in the world have their offices or joint ventures in Shanghai. These foreign companies plan to radiate their business from Shanghai to peripheral region even the whole China.
In Feb 2001, Shanghai Jiahua United Co. Ltd. was listed in Shanghai Market Stock. It is the first, and the unique, company in the Shanghai Market Stock that majors in the cosmetics & flavor & fragrance industry.
The major flavors manufacturers in Shanghai areas include:
Shanghai Flavors General Factory
Shanghai Xin Hua Flavor Factory
Shanghai Peacock Fragrance & Flavor Co. Ltd.
It is expected that the production of flavors in Shanghai city account to nearly 20% of the total production in China.
2) Zhejiang province & Jiangsu province
The chemical industry in Zhejiang province and Jiangsu province developed fast in the past two decades. So they are strong in the synthetic flavors. The strong items include phenyl ethyl alcohol, menthol.
One obvious character in this area is that there are a lot of private owned flavors factories. They are relatively small in production scale but they grow faster than the large ones. In most circumstance the technicians in these private come from the above-mentioned big companies.
The major flavors factory in this area include:
Zhejang Hangzhou Flavors Factory
Jiangsu Suzhou Firmenich Flavors & Fragrance Co. Ltd.
Jiangsu Nantong Mint Factory
Zhejiang Huangyan Flavors Factory
3) Guangxi province
There are over 400 kinds of aromatic plants in Guangxi province. The important flavors in Guangxi province are cassia oil, aniseed star oil, cassia oil, jasmine concrete. These flavors are the traditional native products in Guangxi province, and the export of these products accounts to over 40% of the total export in China. The oversea market includes USA, Pakistan, India, etc. The production of cassia oil accounts to 80% of the total production in China. Guangxi’s aniseed star oil has good repute in the world market.
So far there are around 50 manufacturers in Guangxi engaging in the flavors production. More oversea buyers have accepted the Guangxi’s flavor. It is reported that Liuzhou Liuxiang Flavors Company Ltd. has exported 10kgs of sweet-scented osmanthus concrete to France in June 2001 and the French company has signed a regular contract for it.
The major flavor manufacturers in Guangxi province include:
Guangxi Wuzhou Wanlong Flavors Co. Ltd.
Guangxi Guilin Natural Flavors Development Co. Ltd.
Guangxi Liuzhou Liuxiang Flavors Co. Ltd.
It should be pointed out the Guangxi province is also profound in the production of the raw materials for flavors, like cassia peel and aniseed star, whose annual production is 7,000MT and 20,000MT, respectively. It is reported that Guangxi province will enlarge the plantation area of aniseed star in the future.
4) Yunnan province
Locating in subtropical area, Yunnan province has 365 kinds of aromatic plants. The famous plants include: eucalyptus, camphor, Ylang Ylang, acacia farnesiana, white orchid, rose, aniseed star, ginger, pepper, garlic, angelica, etc. By 1995, the total plantation area of aromatic plant in Yunnan is 200,000 hectares. In the recent years, Yunnan provinces had developed abelmosk, gelsemium for natural flavor purpose.
Yunnan is strong in the natural flavors production. The production of natural flavors in Yunnan province accounts to 30% of the total production in the country. The main flavor species in Yunnan are eucalyptus oil, citronellal oil, geranium oil, Ylang Ylang oil, lemon leaf oil, litsea cubeba oil. Apart from the domestic market, the flavors from Yunnan are exported to Europe, USA, Southeast Asia, etc.
The major flavors manufacturers in Yunnan province include:
Kunming Firmenich Flavors Co. Ltd.
Yunnan Xi Shuang Ban Na Flavors Factory
Yunnan Simao Area Flavors Factory
5) Guangdong province
The manufacturers in Guangdong area are strong in the production of natural flavors and some synthetic flavors. The major flavors include jasmine concrete, patchouli oil, litsea cubeba oil, ionone. The major flavor manufacturers include:
Guangzhou Baihua Flavors Co. Ltd.
Shantou Flavors Factory
Guangdong Zhaoqing Perfumery Co. Ltd.
6) Fujian Province
Fujian province is locating in subtropical area. It is rich in the aromatic plant resources. The major flavors in Fujian province include the datives of gum turpentine, citronellal oil, citral, litsea cubeba oil. The major manufacturers include:
Fuzhou Flavors Factory
Fujian Zhangzhou Flavors General Factory
Fujian Zhangping Flavors Factory
7) Sichuan Province
Sichuan province is rich in the production of citrus, lemon. The major flavors include heliotropin, lemon oil, citrus oil, etc. The major manufacturers include:
Chengdu Flavors General Factory
Sichuan Yi Bin Flavors Factory
Sichuan Tianyuan Forest Chemical Factory
8) Guizhou Province
Guizhou province is also rich in natural resources. There are 67 kinds of aromatic plants in Guizhou province. The cedar wood resource from Guizhou province is famous around the world. The major flavors include cedar wood oil, vanillin, eucalyptus oil, litsea cubeba, sassafras oil, valerian oil, methyl cedryl ketone, etc.
The major flavors manufacturers in Guizhou province are:
Guizhou Province Flavors Factory
Guizhou Qiaolian Flavors Factory
9) Tianjin city
The manufacturers in Tianjin area are strong in the production of synthetic flavors, especially the musk series flavors. The factories in Tianjin area have been the major suppliers of musk flavors in China. But in recent years, the sales of musk flavors declined because of the health care problems. The major factories in Tianjin area include:
- Tianjin Flavors Factory.
- Tianjin No.1 Flavors Factory
10) Hainan province
Locating in tropical area, Hainan province is rich in tropical plants. In the early 1990s, Hainan province started to build a production base of legume. In 2000, the plantation area of legume is 200 hectares and the annual production of dried pod of legume is 90MT, 90% of which is exported. Other important flavors raw materials in Hainan province include vanilla, patchouli oil, citronella oil, ageratum, white orchid, champac, pepper, etc.
The production of flavors in Hainan province is weak. Most of the raw materials for the flavors in Hainan province are sold to domestic manufacturers outside the island. There are only a few manufacturers in Hainan province to produce flavors.
Other Major provinces
Hunan Province & Hubei Province: Producing litsea cubeba oil, ginger oil, orris concrete.
Gansu Province: Mainly produces rose.
Xinjiang Province: The only area in China to produce lavender oil.
Situation of Natural Flavors in Brief
Resources & Production of Natural Flavors
Among the natural flavors in China, the flavors from plant account to nearly 98%. The rest flavors are from animals.
The resource for natural flavor is plentiful in China. There are 500 kinds of aromatic plants in China, 180 of them are often used to make natural flavors. These plants mainly distribute in southern area, Yangtzi River, and southwest China. The important province includes Guangxi, Guangdong, and Hainan, Yunnan, Hunan, Guangdong, Fujian, Sichuan, Hubei, as we discussed earlier.
Many provinces pay a lot of attention to the plantation of natural flavor source. Some even developed new species in China, whose extracts are sellable in the international market. E.g., in recent years, Yunnan Province has developed abelmosk and gelsemium to use as natural flavor source; Sichuan Province has developed white lemon while Hubei province has developed fleur-de-lis.
At present the annual production of natural flavors is 20,000MT-25,000MT, about 20,000Mt of which are essential oil.
According to the statistics some of the resources of natural flavors are listed as follows:
Table 3. Supply situation of major essential oils in China
Product name
Annual production
(MT/year)
Mint oil
6,000
Eucalyptus oil
4,500
Litsea cubeba oil
2,000
Citronella oil
1,200
Aniseed star oil
1,000
Cassia Oil
700
Camphor Oil
700
Sum
16,100
There are over 300 natural flavor producers in China. But most of them are small in production scale. There are few famous brands of natural flavors in the international market. In addition, the Chinese manufacturers are inclined to lower the price among each other in order to get the order from oversea market. This situation leads to the low profit of Chinese production.
Import & Export of Natural Flavors
The annual export of natural flavors maintains at around 9,000-11,000MT, and the annual export value maintains around USD60-70 million.
The strong export items include eucalyptus oil, mint oil, citronellal oil, camphor oil, aniseed star oil, cassia oil, litsea cubeba oil. For details information of these products, please refer to the appendix II.
Table 4. Import & export of essential oil in the past years
Year
Import volume(MT)
Import value (1,000USD)
Export volume (MT)
Export value (1,000USD)
1997
1,943
23,107
9,370
63,448
1998
3,132
23,841
9,299
59,834
1999
3,958
36,808
11,180
67,426
2000
4,473
35,123
9,665
60,294
Recent years, the import of flavors in China has been increasing. From 1997 to 2000, the import quantity increased by two times while the import value increased by 52%. The important items of import flavors are listed in the following table.
Table 5. Import situation of major natural flavors in 2000
Item
Import volume(kg)
Import value (1,000USD)
Export volume(kg)
Export value (1,000USD)
Mint oil
1,869,426
21,774
1,138,811
5,972
Sweet orange oil
1,048,213
2,012
--
--
Lemon oil
563,560
3,762
30,570
157
Oleoresin (extracted)
181,024
438
60,977
319
Other palms
57,252
223
211,753
1,244
Orris cream
31,018
N/A
12
13
Lavender oil
28,325
178
26,220
406
The Collection of Raw Materials for Natural Flavors
At present, the collection of raw materials for natural flavors is carried out via the following channels:
via local government
The local government makes the overall plan for the plantation of aromatic plants and organizes to harvest the plants and entrust the sales of raw materials to some contracted companies.
via special flavor factories and local peasants
Some companies rent lands and recruit the local peasants to live nearby the land. The companies give the peasant the living subsidiaries in the first year of landing. After the harvest in the next year, the peasants give the raw materials to the companies. In return the peasant share the income from the sales of flavors in the companies.
via distributors/or flavor factories
Some businessman or flavor enterprises go to the mountainous area and organize the local peasant to plant the flavor. After harvest, the businessman or flavor enterprises will guarantee to purchase the products from the peasants.
Situation of Synthetic Flavors in Brief
In this report, synthetic flavors refer to isolates and flavors made through the chemical reactions.
Before the foundation of People’s Republic of China, the species of synthetic flavors is quite limited. The major one is menthol, which is made from an essential oil—mint oil.
It is only since 1950s that China began to break through the production technology of some synthetic flavors. The successful items include vanillin, coumarin, heliotropin, phenyl ethyl alcohol, synthetic camphor.
But as China lacked capital to carry out R & D work, the Chinese manufacturers have to copy the production technology from oversea manufacturers. This situation is extremely obvious in the 1980s when China first open its door to the foreign companies. During 1980s and 1990s the Chinese people has grasped the production technology of sandalwood 208, methyl cedrone, maltol, ethyl maltol, dihydromyrcenol.
In recent years, China has been getting strong in some items like synthetic camphor, synthetic linalool. More and more Chinese companies began to throw quite amount of capital into the R & D work to develop their own species. E.g. Shanghai Flavors General Factory uses 1% of the sales income to carry out the research work. Though the ratio is quite small comparing with oversea companies, it shows that the Chinese manufacturers start to pay attention the R & D work in order to develop their own technology.
In addition to supply the domestic market, the Chinese manufacturers are supplying the oversea market. The important export products include vanillin, phenyl ethyl alcohol, heliotropin, maltol, ethyl maltol, ethyl cyclopentene, alcohol ketone, and some heterocylic compounds.
The synthetic flavors manufacturers are locating in the following areas:
Tianjin area
The manufacturers are strong in the production of musk, as state previously. Typical manufacturer include Tianjin Flavors Factory.
Shanghai area
The manufacturers are strong in the production of menthol, maltol, phenyl ethyl alcohol, as stated earlier. Typical manufacturer include Shanghai Flavors General Factory.
Jilin province & Liaoning province
The manufacturers in these provinces are strong in the production of vanillin. Typical manufacturer include Jilin Petrochemical Co. Ltd.
Shandong province
The manufacturers in Shandong province are strong in the production of heterocylic compounds, like pyrazine series and thiazole series. Typical manufacturer include Shandong Tengzhou Jitian Flavors Co. Ltd. and Shandong Tengzhou Wutong Flavors Co. Ltd.
At the moment China can produce 535 synthetic flavors. The supply situation of some strong synthetic flavors is summarized in the below table. For the detailed information of these flavors please refer to appendix II.
Table 6. The supplying situation of some strong synthetic flavors in China
Product Name
Annual production (MT/year)
Synthetic camphor
15,000
Pinene
9,000
Phenyl ethyl alcohol
9,000
Vanillin & ethyl vanillin
7,000
Terpineol
5,000
Menthol
3,500
Benzyl acetate
3,000
Musk xylol
1,500
Coumarin
1,000
Heliotropin
500
Citral
800
Benzyl benzoate
700
Linalool for flavors
500
Benzyl alcohol
500
Lilial
500
Maltol
500
Cedryl methyl ether
500
Musk ketone
500
Musk ambrette
400
Methyl cedryl ketone
100
Sum
60,000
Note: The annual production of the above chemicals only refers to the production for flavors purpose. E.g. the production of linalool for vitamin E is not included in the annual production of linalool.
Foreign Involvement in the Flavor & Fragrance Industry in China
The foreign involvement in Chinese flavors & fragrances industry already existed in early 20th century but stopped upon the foundation of PRC. It is only after 1990 that the foreign investment restarted in China. This time the foreign companies have been more active and politic in the investment, and they have been successful.
In 1992, there were 11 joint ventures in China. In 1993, some famous producers like Takassago, Givaudan, Quest, IFF entered the Chinese market. They met good timing in launching the Chinese market, for the demand from China for the daily chemicals grew fast in the early 1990s.
In 1996, the number of joint ventures in China reached to 51. Though the number of joint ventures accounted 12.43% of the total flavor & fragrance manufacturers in China, the sales from the joint ventures occupied nearly half of the Chinese market.
However the large market of flavor & fragrance, fragrance in particular, attracted many Chinese private companies to enter this market. It situation was obvious in Shanghai area and Guangdong province. These private companies snatched more and more market from the joint ventures. And they have shown much vitality in the recent years.
Table 7. Market share of flavor & fragrance industry (on base of sales value)
Item
Flavor & fragrance from joint venture’s
Flavor & fragrance from state owned factories
Flavor & fragrance from private companies
Market Share in 1990
17%
55%
28%
Market share in 1996
50%
25%
25%
Market share in 2000
33%
20%
47%
Now most famous flavor & fragrance manufacturers have launched into China. Apart from the ones mentioned earlier, other foreign companies have set up joint ventures in China including Gause of America, Firmenich, T. Hsegawa of Japan.
Most of these joint ventures are making fragrance by using the flavors either purchased from overseas or from domestic suppliers. However some foreign companies also produce natural flavors in China, either isolate or synthetic flavors. Usually these natural flavors are strong items in China. E.g. IFF jointed venture with a Hangzhou factory to produce cedryl ketone. While Rodia simply bought a Chinese manufacture-- Zhejiang Haining Snow Leopard Fine Chemical Factory, which produce vanillin. For more information of the foreign companies please refer to appendix III.
The foreign companies benefit a great deal from the investment but they also face some shortcomings:
The production cost is high, comparing with Chinese product
The product species are limited.
Due to the fact that most management officers are from overseas, their management method and strategy may not be suitable in China. This limits the development of joint ventures.
Flavors Research Institutes in China
In the past China planed to set up two research institutes on flavors:
Shanghai Research Institute of Flavor & Fragrance Industry
Sichuan Chongqing Natural Flavor Research Institute
However Sichuan Chongqing Natural Flavor Research Institute was dismissed in the 1960s. At present there is only one national research institutes on flavors in China.
Note from CCM: In this sample report, the details contact information is omitted and replaced with xxxx. Please be noted.
Shanghai Research Institute of Flavor & fragrance Industry
Address: xxxx
Tel: xxxx
Fax: xxxx
Person to contact: xxxx
Email: xxxx
Website: xxxx
Shanghai Research Institute of Flavor & Fragrance Industry (SRIFFI) set up in 1956. All the researchers came the flavor factories in Shanghai areas.
In the past SRIFFI was under the administration of State Light Industry Bureau. In 1999 SRIFFI turned from a research unit to an industrial entity, which means they began to conduct production and commercial activities. SRIFFI has import & export right. Now it is under the administration of Shanghai government. There are two workshops and 200 technicians in SRIFFI.
SRIFFI is good at the research on synthetic flavors, aromatic plants, natural products processing, essential oil analysis, and fragrance study.
SRIFFI produces tens of flavors including sandal 208, natural vanillin, raspberry ketone, citral, 3-methylthio propanol, casmierone, bergamotal, difurfuryl disulfide, methyl mercaptan, furfuryl mercaptan, dihydro coumarin, dimethyl benzyl carbinyl, etc.
In addition, SRIFFI produces daily fragrance, food grade fragrance, tobacco fragrance and feed fragrance.
SRIFFI is also assigned as State Test Center for Quality of Flavors & Fragrance and Cosmetics, State Center of Flavor & Fragrance Standard, State Flavors Industry Information Center.
Other Research Units
In 1960s, China built Shanghai Light Industry Senior School. This school is major in the study of natural flavors. In the past four decades, this school has trained thousand professionals for Chinese flavors industry.
Today, apart from this school, most light industry colleges in China have set up flavors department.
Many chemical research institutes and flavors manufacturers also engage in the study on flavors. The famous ones are:
CAS Guangzhou Chemical Research Institute
This institute is strong in the research on flavors made from gum turpentine. Guangxi Wuzhou Wanlong Flavor Co. Ltd. and Xiamen Doingcom Chemical Co. Ltd., the two major flavor manufacturers specializing in gum turpentine derivatives, both got technical assistance from CAS Guangzhou Chemical Research Institute in the establishment.
Flavors Research Institute of Shanghai Peacock Flavors & Fragrance Co. Ltd.
CAS Kunming Botany Research Institute
Yunnan Natural Flavors Development Center
Kunming Chemical Research Institute
Yunnan Tropical Plant Research Institute
Yunnan Tobacco Science Research Institute.
Government Management on Flavor Industry in China
Government Administration Units
There is no specific central government to administrate the flavors industry in China. Part of flavors manufacturers, natural flavors in particular, are under the administration of State Light Industry Bureau; while part of flavors manufacturers, synthetic flavors in particular, are under the administration of Sate Petrochemical Industry Bureau.
In recent years, State Light Industry Bureau and State Petrochemical Industry Bureau only supervise the flavors industry in fields of foreign investment, industrial standard, production license, developing plan, etc. More and more daily management work on flavors industry has been transferred to local governments. China Association of Fragrance & Flavor and Cosmetic Industry (CAFFCI) and China Food Additive Production & Application Industry Association (CFAPAIA) conduct the liaison work between Chinese manufacturers and central government, as well as the intra communication among the Chinese manufacturers. CAFFCI is mainly responsible for drafting industrial development program, providing guidance to flavors & fragrance and cosmetic manufacturers, and exchanging industrial information among its members. While CFAPAIA is mainly responsible for the approval of flavor species used as food additives.
Management on Investment
According to the Catalogue Encouraging the Foreign Investment, China encourages the investment in the isolate flavors and chemical synthetic flavors.
In Catalogue Limiting the Foreign Investment, China forbids the investment in musk flavors. China also restricts the foreign investment in the natural flavors.
The investment with large amount must be approved by the State Foreign Economic & Trade Committee.
Management on Industrial Standard
So far there are only standards for edible flavors and there is not standard for daily chemical flavors.
Before 2000, Edible Flavor Branch of Food Additive Standard Commission (FASC) carried out the sanction of flavor standard. Any edible flavor must be approved by FASC before State Sanitation Bureau publishes it for safe consumption.
The Chinese standards of edible flavor are drafted in reference to GRAS of FEMA and CEO and IOFI of Europe, as well as FCC, EOA, ISO/TC54. For those new edible flavors that do not have oversea standard for reference, they have to pass a certain period of toxicity test before they are evaluated for safe.
Shanghai Research Institute of Flavor & fragrance Industry (SRIFFI) was responsible for drafting & compile of flavor standards. By 1980, SRIFFI had finished 31 flavors standard. So far they have finished 126 items, including 21 compulsory state standard, 38 recommendatory state standard, 60 compulsory industrial standard and 7 recommendatory industrial standard.
In Feb 2001, State Flavors & Fragrance and Cosmetics Standard Committee (SFFCSC) set up. It is under the administration of State Light Industry Bureau. SFFCSC takes over the job from SFAC. The function of SFFCSC include:
To draft the policy and action toward the standardizations of flavor & fragrance.
To draft and revise standard of the flavor & fragrance
To assist government in revising the standard.
To conduct the evaluation of the product standard.
Production License
In China it needs license to produce flavors.
The license system was first executed in the fragrance industry in 1982. In 1991, it was also applied in flavors industry. State Technology Supervision Bureau issues the license. Later the issue and revision of the license is carried out by a committee whose members come from the following units:
Shanghai Research Institute of Flavor & Fragrance Industry
Sichuan Daily Chemicals Research Institute
Guangzhou Baihua Flavors Co. Ltd.
Hangzhou Flavors Factory
Shanghai Flavors General Factory
Shanghai Xin Hua Flavors Factory
Government Target & Plan for Flavors Industry
1. Problems of the Industry
In the recent years the increasing speed in flavors & fragrance production slowed down. The main reason is that many oversea manufacturers have entered the Chinese market and began to share more Chinese market, fragrance market in particular. These oversea manufacturers use their advanced technology to make fragrance in China and sell the fragrance to Chinese consumers.
As fragrance is mainly consumed in cosmetics industry and daily chemicals industry, which have been shared in large part by oversea companies like P & G, Unilever, Hankel, etc. These oversea companies will only purchase the fragrance from joint ventures in China, or from oversea companies, instead of from domestic manufacturers.
The result is that it is hard for the survival of domestic Chinese flavor manufacturers, especially the state own manufacturers.
The state owned manufacturers are low in technical level. They are lack of flexible management systems and considerate service & support.
On the other hand the private owned manufacturers are flexible in management & customer service. But they are weak in economic backup and technical support. The private owned manufacturers lack long-term plan to the development of the enterprise and they are not willing to throw much in R & D work. So in most circumstances their product quality is not stable.
In addition, the Chinese flavors industry has the following shortcomings:
The product species is relatively limited E.g., there are over 5000 flavor products in the oversea market. But there are around 1,000 species in China.
The production quantity is not stable, subject to the international market very much.
Technique is outdated and the equipment is rotten. Most manufacturers still use old equipment of distillation, drying, and crystallization.
The production scale in most factories is small. These factories will lose competitive position facing the challenge from joint ventures.
China is lack of the flavor & fragrance technician & professionals.
2. State plan for flavor & fragrance industry
Here is the summary of government plan for the flavors industry in the “Tenth-Five-Year” plans:
To improve technical level of flavors
To introduce advanced technology of distillation and purification
To improve the product quality
To increase the export quantity
To develop 40 natural flavors and 200 synthetic flavors
To maintain the development speed at 6-7% per year
To increase the ratio of fragrance to the total production of flavors & fragrance.
To develop natural flavors including spearmint oil, mint oil, litsea cubeba oil, turpentine oil, citronellal oil, etc.
To develop synthetic flavors, especially of famous species like vanillin, coumarin, etc.
To limit the production of those synthetic flavors that are not promising, like nitro musk.
Conclusion & Suggestion
Conclusion:
Due to the over exploitation on natural resources, and the ever strict management on the environment protection, the production of natural flavors will decrease in the future.
The Chinese ability to develop the production technology, especially of synthetic flavors, has been improved in the past and will continue to improve in the future.
China has been proved to be a potential reservoir to tap for the huge consumptions of fragrance, which in return brings more commercial opportunitiesfor flavors, synthetic flavors in particular.
Suggestion for Ways Forward:
…… (Omitted)
Introduction to Some Major Flavor Manufacturers in China
Note from CCM: In this sample report, the details contact information is omitted and replaced with xxxx. Please be noted.
1) Shanghai Flavors General Factory
Address: xxxx
Tel: xxxx
Fax: xxxx
Person to contact: xxxx
Email: xxxx
Website: xxxx
Shanghai Flavors General Factory is formed on base of the following three factories:
- Shanghai United Flavors Factory
- Shanghai Weizhong Flavors Factory (also the Shangahi Flavors Factory NO.3)
- Shanghai Flavors Factory
In 1979, Shanghai Weizhong Flavors Factory was incorporated into Shanghai United Flavor Factory. In 1993, Shanghai United Flavor Factory merged with Shanghai Flavor Factory to form Shanghai Flavor General Factory. This is a state owned company. It covers 80, 187 M2 of land.
At present Shanghai Flavors General Factory is the largest flavors manufacturer in China, producing over 100 products including:
phenyl ethyl alcohol ( Capacity 2,500Mt/year)
phenyl methanol alcohol (Capacity1,500Mt/year)
benzyl acetate (Capacity 500MT/year)
vanillin (Capacity 3,000Mt/year)
natural menthol (Capacity1,500Mt/year)
coumarin (Capacity 200Mt/year)
anisic aldehyde (Capacity 800Mt/year)
hydroxycitronellal (Capacity 300Mt/year)
methylionone (Capacity 400Mt/year)
linalyl acetate (Capacity 400Mt/year)
lysmeral (lilial) (Capacity 200Mt/year)
The production value in 1999 was RMB 300 millions.
2) Guangzhou Baihua Flavor Co. Ltd.
Address: xxxx
Tel: xxxx
Fax: xxxx
Person to contact: xxxx
Email: xxxx
Website: xxxx
This factory was set up in 1956. The original name was Guangzhou Flower Extract Factory. Originally they planted jasmine flowers, jasmine grandiflorum, and michelia for purpose of concrete production. Later they changed the name to Guangzhou Baihua Flavors Factory. In Chinese, Baihua means many kind of flowers.
Now Guangzhou Baihua Flavors Co. Ltd. is one of the largest flavors manufacturers in China, producing nearly 600 kinds of natural flavors, synthetic flavors, and fragrance. The production capacity of natural flavors is 1,000MT/year and the production capacity of fragrance is 4,3000MT/year. The sales value in 1999 was RMB 200 millions and the net profit was RMB 10 millions.
The natural flavors in Guangzhou Baihua Flavors Co. Ltd. include:
michelia oil and concrete
patchouli oil
jasmine oil and absolute
jasminum grandiflorum concrete and absolute
angelica absolute
cocoa tincture
coffee tincture
lysimachia foenum-graecum tincture
……
The synthetic flavors include:
beta ionone,
methyl ionone (100MT/year),
alpha ionone,
citral,
citronellol (200MT/year),
ethyl salicylate,
geraniol (68MT/year),
lilial,
thymol,
…….
It is reported that the market share of flavors from Guangzhou Baihua Flavors Co. Ltd in 1998 was 17%.
3) Shanghai Xin Hua Flavor Factory
Address: xxxx
Tel: xxxx
Fax: xxxx
Person to contact: xxxx
Email: xxxx
Website: xxxx
This factory is found on base of the former Shanghai Xin Hua Mint Factory, which produced natural menthol. From 1956, they began to use White Beer as the brand to export. In 1960 Shanghai Xinhua Mint Factory changed the name into Shanghai Xin Hua Flavors Factory.
In 1990 Shanghai Xin Hua Flavor Factory merged Shanghai Flavor Factory No.2. In 1993, this factory set up a joint ventured with Taiwan Yong Ye Yuan Flavor Company. The joint venture is specializing in the production of dementholized oil. Now the annual capacity is over 500MT/year.
At present this factory majors in the production of:
mint and menthol
vanillin
synthetic sandalwood
musk ambrette
piperonal anisaldehyde
……
4) Shanghai Peacock Fragrance & Flavor Co. Ltd.
Address: xxxx
Tel: xxxx
Fax: xxxx
Person to contact: xxxx
Email: xxxx
Website: xxxx
This company was formed on base of the former Lilai Chemical Factory, which was set up in 1950. In 1960 Lilai Chemical Factory began to produce flavors in small quantity. In 1962, they began to produce food grade fragrance, branded Peacock.. Later this factory named to Shanghai Peacock Flavors & Fragrance Co. Ltd.
Shanghai Peacock Flavors & Fragrance Co. Ltd. is producing nearly 900 kinds of fragrance, including food fragrance, tobacco fragrance, daily fragrance.
They also produce flavors.
The natural flavors include linalool, linalyl ester, vanilla tincture, coffee tincture, chrysanthemum tincture, black tea tincture, lemon terrene, etc.
While the synthetic flavors include isobutyl acetate, geranyl acetate, methyl acetate, benzyl acetate, ethyl caprilate, lauryl acetate, etc.
5) Tianjin Flavor Factory
Address: xxxx
Tel: xxxx
Fax: xxxx
Person to contact: xxxx
Email: xxxx
Website: xxxx
This is the first flavor factory set up in northern China. It was found in 1956. In the beginning they mainly produced synthetic flavors like nitro musk, musk ambrette, acetophenone. The also made fragrance. But later the fragrance workshop was later separated to form Tianjin Fragrance Factory.
In 1985, Tianjin Flavors Factory merged with Tianjin Flavor Factory No.3
At present this factory is the largest one in China to produce nitromusk. The products include:
musk xylol (capacity 600MT/year),
musk ketone (capacity 400MT/year)
musk ambrette (capacity 200Mt/year)
acetophenone (capacity 300MT/year)
6) Shandong Tengzhou Wutong Flavors Co. Ltd.
Address: xxxx
Tel: xxxx
Fax: xxxx
Person to contact: xxxx
Email: xxxx
Website: xxxx
Shandong Tengzhou Wutong Flavors Co. Ltd. is found on base of the former Shandong Tengzhou Flavors Factory. This company is engaging in the development of synthetic flavors and fragrance. It is the largest one in China to produce heterocyclic flavors in China. The products cover
pyrazine series (40 species)
pyrrole series (3 species)
pyridine series (4 species)
thiazole series (20 species)
furan series (4 species)
thiofuran (3 species)
mercaptan series (8 species)
sulfuric ether series (8 species)
sulfuric ester series (2 species)
About 60% of the flavors in Shandong Tengzhou Wutong Flavors Co. Ltd. are sold in the domestic market while about 40% is exported to oversea countries. It is reported that they supply products to P & G, Unilever.
In addition, Shandong Wutong Flavors Co. Ltd. is producing over 20 species of natural flavors including:-
propyl alcohol(natural)
ethyl propionate(natural)
isoamylpropionate(natural)
propylisobutyrate(natural)
isoamyl isobutyrate(natural)
isoamyl alcohol(natural)
D-2-Methyl butyraldehyde(natural)
D-2-Methyl butyric acid(natural)
isopropyl-2-methyl butyrate(natural)
……
7) Zhejiang Hangzhou Flavors Factory
Address: xxxx
Tel: xxxx
Fax: xxxx
Person to contact: xxxx
Email: xxxx
Website: xxxx
Mainly producing crimson glory rose concrete. Strong items are vetiver oil and frost weed concrete.
Hangzhou Flavors Factory was set up in 1958. Originally this factory focused on natural flavors. Later they developed fragrance including emulsified fragrance, natural milk fragrance and macrocapsulized fragrance.
This factory is majoring in food grade fragrance, daily fragrance, tobacco fragrance, natural flavors and synthetic flavors. Their products are exported to USA, west Europe, Southeast Asia, etc.
The flavors products in this factory include:
Cedar wood series: cedar wood oil, methyl cedryl ketone, methyl cedryl ether, cedrol, cedryl acetate
Concrete series: Crimson glory rose concrete, orris concrete, black tea concrete, jujube concrete, etc.
Absolute series: citronellal oil absolute, Dai Dai leaf absolute, eucalyptus absolute, sassafras absolute, etc.
Tincture series: black tea tincture, jujube tincture, angelica tincture, coffee tincture, etc.
Synthetic flavors: various ester, aldehyde, ether, pyrazine, etc.
Introduction to Some Major Flavors in China
Major Natural Flavors
1. Essential Oil
1) Mint oil
The raw material for mint oil, Asian mint, grows in Jiangsu, Anhui, Jiangxi, Zhejiang, Henan. Before mid 1990s, mint oil production was a supporting industry in Jiangsu province and Anhui province. For a long time China had been the largest supplier of mint oil in the world. And there were once over ten manufacturers in China.
But entering the 1990s, the Chinese position has been threatened by India’s product. Now India has replace China to be the largest mint oil supplier in the world.
On the other side, the economic situation in countryside of Jiangsu province and Anhui province developed fast in the past few year and the local peasant do not regard the plantation of mint as the unique income. Many of them went into the large cities to find jobs.
In the year 2001, some local governments in Jiangsu and Anhui province increased the tax rate on mint oil from 13% to 17%, which decreases the profit margin for mint oil production.
These factors lead to the fact the mint production in China decreased quite a lot in the past few years.
The capacity of mint oil in China is 10,000Mt/year. But the annual production is about 6,000MT. In recent years some Chinese manufacturers import mint oil from India and export in name of Chinese manufacturers after some simple purification.
Every year China imports around 1,800MT mint oil while exports around 1,100MT mint oil at the same time. The Chinese mint oil is mainly exported to German, British, Italy, USA, France, Taiwan, Singapore, Japan, etc.
Table 8. Import & export of mint oil in China
Import volume(kg)
Import value (1,000USD)
Export volume (kg)
Export value (1,000USD)
1997
700,399
16,261
788,512
10,510
1998
1,722,093
17,585
1,007,886
7,100
1999
1,843,311
24,570
1,414,006
9,497
2000
1,869,426
21,774
1,138,811
5,972
2) Eucalyptus oil
In China, eucalyptus oil is mainly made from eucalyptus globules, which grows in Yunnan, Guangdong, Guangxi, Fujian, Zhejiang, Jiangxi. A part of eucalyptus oil is made from eucalyptus citriodora and eucalyptus robusta, which distribute in Fujian, Guangxi, Guangdong, Yunnan, Sichuan , Zhejiang, Hunan, Jiangxi.
The annual production of eucalyptus is around 4,500MT while the annual export quantity of eucalyptus oil is around 3,500MT. In year 2000 China exported 3,448MT of eucalyptus oil to the oversea countries. The Chinese eucalyptus oil is mainly exported to India, Indonesia, Hong Kong, etc.
Table 9. Import & export of Eucalyptus oil in China
Import volume (kg)
Import value (1,000USD)
Export volume (kg)
Export value (1,000USD)
1997
42,182
496
3,718,670
12,285
1998
60,873
271
2,811,130
9,916
1999
33,908
250
3,784,363
11,468
2000
29,204
150
3,448,550
12,986
3) Litsea cubeba oil
Litsea cubeba grows in Guangxi, Guangdong, Fujian, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Anhui, Hunan. China succeeded in the plantation of litsea cubeba in 1950-1960. Hunan province and Yunnan province are major production areas of litsea cubeba oil. The product from the former area contents 60-65% citral while the product from the latter contents 75% min. of citral. The annual production in Hunan province is 400MT however much factories in that area are small in production scale.
The annual production of litsea cubeba is about 2,000Mt/year. The annual export quantity of litsea cubeba oil is over 400MT. The export quantity in 1999 was as high as 817MT. The Chinese litsea cubeba oil is mainly exported to Hong Kong, British, Spanish and USA. But recent year more litsea cubeba oil is consumed within China flavor purposes directly or is used to make beta ionone, which is also for flavor purpose.
Table 10. Import & export of litsea cubeba oil in China
Import volume(kg)
Import value (1,000USD)
Export volume (kg)
Export value (1,000USD)
1997
2,135
30
397,135
3,853
1998
700
10
605,560
4,670
1999
-
-
817,215
4,983
2000
2
-
397,505
3,066
4) Citronella oil
The raw material, citronella, grows in Guangxi, Guangdong, Fujian, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan. Recent years the Chinese manufacturers exploited too much on the natural resources of citronellal that the production of citronella oil decreased a lot. And the export of citronella oil decrease accordingly.
The annual production of citronella oil in China is around 1,200MT, accounting to nearly 50% of the world production. Yunnan is the main production area of citronella oil in China, with annual production of 400-600MT.
The Chinese citronella oil is mainly exported to India, German, Spanish, British, etc.
Table 11. Import & export of citronella oil in the past years.
Import volume(kg)
Import value (1,000USD)
Export volume (kg)
Export value (1,000USD)
1997
4,074
40
1,036,770
3,888
1998
933
2
1,071,240
3,904
1999
11,696
77
949,190
3,438
2000
16,439
110
541,220
3,159
5) Aniseed star oil
In China about 80% aniseed star grows in Guangxi province. It is one of the important native products in Guangxi province. Most of Chinese aniseed oil is consumed directly or exported directly, without further process to make aniseed oil. Part of aniseed star is made into oil.
China is the major supplier of aniseed star in the world. The Chinese aniseed oil accounts to 80% of the world production. The annual of aniseed star oil is around 1,000MT and 700MT of which are exported. But in 2000 China only exported 515MT because of the poor harvest of aniseed. The Chinese aniseed star oil is mainly exported to France, British, and USA.
Table 11. Import & export of aniseed star oil in the past
Import volume (kg)
Import value (1,000USD)
Export volume (kg)
Export value (1,000USD)
1997
268
7
713,362
5,246
1998
10,002
13
699,840
5,140
1999
1,186
17
704,321
4,610
2000
88
7
515,260
3,429
6) Cassia Oil
The raw material, cassia, grows in Guangxi, Guangdong, Yunnan, Fujian, Hunan, Jiangxi, Zhejiang, Sichuan. The cassia oil manufacturers distribute in Guangxi, Yunnan, Jiangxi. Cassia oil is one of the major export items in China and it is the strongest items in Guangxi province. The annual production of cassia oil is around 700MT and nearly 80% are exported every year, mainly to German, USA and Japan. The Chinese cassia oil accounts to 90% of the world production.
Table 12.Import & export of cassia oil in the past
Import volume (kg)
Import value (1,000USD)
Export volume (kg)
Export value (1,000USD)
1997
6,600
62
392,181
8,803
1998
9,684
114
626,794
13,043
1999
4,917
82
548,741
11,325
2000
8,902
132
532,353
9,642
7) Camphor Oil
The camphor distributes in Fujian, Jiangxi, Zhejiang, Guangdong, Guangxi, Hunan, Hubei, Sichuan.
The annual production of camphor oil is 700MT and the annual export quantity of camphor oil in China is about 300MT. The Chinese camphor oil is mainly exported to Taiwan and Hong Kong.
Table 13. Import & export of camphor oil in the past
Import volume(kg)
Import value (1,000USD)
Export volume (kg)
Export value (1,000USD)
1997
11,442
11
518,810
1,415
1998
5,920
14
317,045
809
1999
6,167
7
384,179
1,136
2000
2,775
32
349,565
678
8) Other Essential Oils
Table 14. Other essential oils species in China
Name
Plant distribution
Spearmint oil
Jiangsu, Anhui, Jiangxi, Zhejiang, Henan, Guangdong, Guangxi, Sichuan
Geranium oil
Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian, Guangdong, Yunnan, Sichuan, Shanghai
Sassafras oil
Southern China, Eastern China
Lemon oil
Sichuan, Guangdong, Guangxi, Yunnan, Fujian, Taiwan
Orange oil
Sichuan, Guangdong, Guangxi, Jiangxi, Hunan, Hubei, Fujian, Taiwan
Patchouli oil
Guangdong, Guangxi, Sichuan, Taiwan
Vetiver oil
Guangdong, Fujian, Zhejiang
Sandal wood oil
Guangdong
Lavender oil
Xinjiang, Shaanxi, Henan, Hebei, Zhejiang
Ginger oil
Sichuan, Zhejiang, Fujian, Hunan, Hubei, Shandong, Jiangsu, Guangxi
Ylang ylang oil
Yunnan, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi
Garlic oil
Around China
Valerian oil
Sichuan, Guizhou, Hubei, Qinghai, Gansu, Shaanxi, Henan, Shandong
Sage Clary oil
Shaanxi, Henan, Hebei
Ocimum gratissimum oil
Guangdong, Guangxi, Fujian, Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan, Taiwan
Peppermint oil
Hebei, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui
Thyme oil
Shandong, Liaoning, Henan, Shanxi
Pearleverlasting oil
Zhejiang, Fujian, Shaanxi, Yunnan, Guizhou, Guangxi
Costus oil*
Yunnan, Sichuan, Zhejiang, Shaanxi, Shandong
Rose oil*
Beijing, Shandong, Jiangsu, Henan, Hebei, Sichuan, Liaoning, Shanxi
Coriander seed oil
Around China
Fennel seed oil
Beijing, Shandong, Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Sichuan
Cedar Wood oil
Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Fujian, Anhui, Hunan, Hubei, Sichuan, Guizhou
Fir oil
Sichuan, Northeast China
Rue oil
Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Hebei, Guangdong, Guangxi
Murraya paniculate oil*
Fujian, Hunan, Guizhou, Guangxi, Yunnan, Taiwan
Dai Dai oil
Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Fujian, Guangdong, Guizhou, Sichuan
Grapefruit oil
Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Guangxi, Guangdong, Hunan, Hubei, Fujian, Sichuan
Tangerine oil
Sichuan, Fujian, Zhejiang, Hunan, Hubei, Yunnan, Guizhou
Zanthoxylum oil
Shaanxi, Henan, Hebei, Shandong, Sichuan
Aglaia Odorata oil
Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Sichuan, Guizhou
Orris oil
Zhejiang, Yunnan, Hebei
Calamus oil
Northeast China, Inner Mongolia, Hebei, Henan, Shanxi, Gansu, Shaanxi, Ningxia
Pepper oil
Guangdong, Guangxi, Yunnan, Taiwan
*note: concrete form is also available in China.
2. Concrete & Absolute
1) Jasmine concrete
Jasmine was introduced in China 1,000 years ago. In China this kind of flower grows in Southwest and Middle China, such as Guangdong, Fujian, Jiangsu, Zhejiang. But most of them grow in Guangzhou area. Both jasmine concrete and jasmine absolute are also available in China.
2) Jasminum Grandiflorum Concrete
Jasminum grandiflorum was introduced into China in 1957. Now it is planted in Guangdong, Fujian, Sichuan, Zhejiang, Yunnan, Taiwan. The jasminum grandiflorum absolute is also available in China.
3) Other concretes & absolutes
Table 15. Other species of concrete & Absolute flavors in China
Plant name
Plant distribution
Main extract form
Other extract form
Tuberose
Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Guangdong, Sichuan, Hebei
Concrete
Absolute
Crimson glory rose
Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Hebei
Concrete
Absolute
Lily of valley
Shandong, Hebei, Henan, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Jilin, Liaoning, Heilongjiang
Concrete
Absolute
Cassie
Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Sichuan, Yunnan, Zhejiang, Taiwan
Concrete
Absolute
Michelia
Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui, Taiwan
Concrete
Essential oil
Osmanthus
Guangxi, Hunan, Guizhou, Zhejiang, Hubei, Anhui, Jiangsu, Fujian
Concrete
Absolute
Rose
Gansu, Sichuan, Shandong, Beijing
Concrete
Essential oil
Narcissus
Fujian, Zhejiang, Shanghai
Concrete
Absolute
Chimonanthus fragrant
Shaanxi, Sichuan, Hubei, Jiangsu, Zhejiang
Concrete
Absolute
Gardenia
Jaingsu, Hunan, Zhejang, Anhui, Jiangxi, Guangdong, Guangxi, Yunnan
Concrete
Absolute
Hop
Xinjiang, Gansu, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Inner Mongolia, Liaoning, Hebei, Shandong
Concrete
Essential oil
Sweet Voilet
Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Sichuan, Yunnan, Fujian
Concrete
Absolute
Cistus Labdaniferus
Jiangsu, Zhejiang
Concrete
-
3. Tincture
1) Musk tincture
Musk is collected from Chinese musk deer, Musk Tonkin or Moschus Moschiferus, aging 2-13. The Chinese musk deer grows in Tibet, Yunnan and Qinghai province. It is estimated that Chinese musk deer accounts to 70-80% of the total musk deer in the world.
In ancient times, Chinese musk was used as traditional medicine. But in the recent decades more and more wild Chinese musk deer had been hunted. It is reported that there are no more than 100,000 wild Chinese musk deer in China. Now China has built production bases of Chinese musk deer in Shanghai and Zhejiang for purpose of musk tincture production.
2) Other tinctures
Table 16. Other species of other tinctures
Name
Plant distribution
Lysimachia foenum-graecum tincture
Yunnan, Guangxi, Guangdong, Sichuan, Guizhou, Hubei
Vanilla tincture
Fujian, Yunnan, Hainan
Jujube tincture
Hebei, Henan, Shandong, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Zhejiang, Anhui
Introduction to Major Synthetic Flavors in China
Note: In this study, we introduce the synthetic flavor by order of functional group.
China can produce around 750 kinds of synthetic flavors.
1. Hydrocarbon Chemicals
Usually hydrocarbon chemicals are not used direction in the production of fragrance. Usually they are used as the raw materials or intermediates for the production of synthetic flavors. The most important source for hydrocarbon chemicals is gum turpentine, a kind of terpine.
Alpha Pinene & Beta Pinene
Alpha pinene and beta pinene are made from the cracking of gum turpentine, which is a native product in Guangdong, Guangxi, Fujian and Yunnan. Chinese gum turpentine is characteristic for its high content of alpha pinene and low content of beta content. The gum turpentine in Yunnan province contents about 70-80% alpha pinene and 20% beta pinene, while the gum turpentine in the other provinces contents 80-90% alpha pinene and 5-10% beta pinene. The annual production of gum turpentine in China is around 50,000Mt. But apart from the consumption in paint, quite a part of gum turpentine has been exported every year. It is estimated that less than 10,000Mt/year of gum turpentine is used to make alpha pinene and beta pinene, making nearly 9,000Mt/year of pinene. Over 80% of Chinese pinene is exported every year, mainly to Japan, India, Hong Kong, South Korea, USA, etc.
Isoprene
China started the research work on isoprene dated 1970s. But the mass production of isoprene started in the end 1990s. In China isoprene is made from the C5 petroleum resin. The annual production capacity is about 5,000MT. But most isoprenes are used to make rubber, agrochemicals, lubricant additives, etc. A small quantity of isoprene is used to make flavors.
2. Alcohol Flavors
The production of alcohol flavors account to nearly 25% of total synthetic flavors production in China.
1) Phenyl Ethyl Alcohol
Phenyl ethyl alcohol (PEA) is made from styrene. It is the strong item in China. The production is 9,000MT/year. But nearly two third of PEA is exported every year. The Chinese PEA is mainly exported to USA, Netherlands, British, Singapore, etc. Now the Chinese PEA manufacturers are strong competitors to BASF.
2) Terpineol
Terpineol is made by the hydration of gum turpentine. As it is relatively simple in the production, there are about ten manufacturers in China to produce this product.
The annual production of terpineol is around 5,000MT. But over half of Chinese terpineol is exported to oversea countries. The Chinese terpineol is mainly exported to Japan, British, Mongolia, Singapore, etc.
Table 17. Import & export of terpineol in China
Import volume(kg)
Import value (1,000USD)
Export volume (kg)
Export value (1,000USD)
1997
3,458
12
1,854,220
3,421
1998
42,147
94
1,676,985
2,834
1999
87,616
153
2,298,120
3,154
2000
53,580
196
2,866,981
4,017
3) Menthol
China has over 60 years of history in the production of menthol. Chinese menthol, White Beer Brand in particular, enjoys good fame in the international market. In 1970s, when the plantation of mint decreased to a large degree, China once turned to make menthol via eucalyptus oil, in Guangzhou area and Shanghai area but with small quantity. Later the price of eucalyptus oil increased and China continued to make menthol by the isolation of mint oil.
The annual production of menthol is about 3,500MT, nearly 80% of which is exported. The main destinations include British, Hong Kong, USA, Singapore.
Similar to the situation of mint oil, the Chinese menthol has been threatened by the Indian product, which is cheaper in price and enters the Chinese market in large quantity.
Table 18. Import & export of menthol in China
Import volume(kg)
Import value (1,000USD)
Export volume (kg)
Export value (1,000USD)
1997
344,200
5,475
764,727
30,025
1998
790,114
8,568
1,804,455
26,123
1999
1,115,749
11,733
2,771,417
38,415
2000
3,005,436
29,468
2,516,192
33,047
4) Linalool
There are two kinds of linalool in China: natural linalool and synthetic linalool.
The natural linalool is made from Shiu oil (Hu oil), which excreted from camphor trees, C. Camphora Var. Linaloolifera Fujita. It grows in south of Yangtzi River. China began to exploit the camphor tree in middle 1950s. The linalool content in Shiu Oil is 30-50%. But the Chinese Shiu Oil also contents 10-30% camphor which is hard to separate from linalool because their boiling points is similar each other. (B.P. of linalool is 198.3oC while the B.P. of camphor is 204 oC). This affects the sales of Chinese natural linalool. In recent years, the production of natural linalool is less than 200MT/year.
The synthetic linalool comes from two ways: from cracking of gum turpentine and from synthesis of acetyl acetone. The synthetic linalool from acetyl acetone is not within the present discussion because it is mainly used for the production of vitamin E and vitamin A.
There is only one set of facility in China to make linalool from gum turpentine, Guangxi Wu Zhou Gum Rosin Factory. But they produce less than 300MT linalool per year although the designed production capacity is 500MT/year, for their production cost is high. In addition, the linalool from this way is not as good as linalool from Shiu oil, which possesses better odor and sense.
Before 1999 when there has not been the mass production of synthetic linalool from acetyl acetone, China imported nearly 1,500MT per year, mainly for vitamin E production. But in 1999 China started mass production of linalool from acetyl acetone and the import of linalool decreased thereafter. In year 2000, China only imported 478MT of linalool, which were mostly consumed in joint ventures of flavor & fragrance manufacturers in China, like Firmenich, Givaudan. The linalool is imported mainly from USA.
Table 19. Import & export of linalool in the past
Import volume(kg)
Import value (1,000USD)
Export volume (kg)
Export value (1,000USD)
1998
1,172,071
9,223
107,077
332
1999
1,511,912
12,039
153,850
867
2000
478,061
2,943
178,600
940
5) Benzyl Alcohol
The annual production in China is about 500MT. But China is not strong in the production of benzyl alcohol. Every year China has to import quite quantity of benzyl alcohol from Netherlands, Belgium, USA, etc. It is only in the recent years that China increased the production of benzyl alcohol.
Table 20.Import & export of benzyl alcohol in China
Import volume(kg)
Import value (1,000USD)
Export volume (kg)
Export value (1,000USD)
1997
656,578
226
71,570
133
1998
1,648,994
529
91,850
159
1999
276,273
476
187,182
413
2000
310,465
539
244,268
308
3. Aldehyde Flavors
In China the production of aldehyde flavors accounts to around 15% of the total production of synthetic flavors. The most important aldehyde flavors are vanillin and ethyl vanillin.
3) Vanillin and Ethyl Vanillin
In China both vanillin and ethyl vanillin are made by chemicals synthesis method, with methyl/ethyl catechol as raw material. But as the air pollution is severe by this method and most of Chinese manufacturers quitted the production of vanillin and ethyl vanillin in the past.
The present production capacity of vanillin and ethyl vanillin is around 8,000MT. It is reported that Rodia is planning to build a 4,000 production line of ethyl catechol in China and it is expected that Rodia will produce vanillin in China.
Every year China exports about 3,000MT of vanillin and ethyl vanillin, 80-90% of which are vanillin. The Chinese vanillin is exported to German, USA, Netherlands, Italy, British, etc.
Table 21. Import & export of vanillin and ethyl vanillin in China
Import volume (kg)
Import value (1,000USD)
Export volume (kg)
Export value (1,000USD)
1997 vanillin
58148
608.3
2664042
27497.2
1997 ethyl vanillin
169734
92.2
350585
4374.4
1997 total
227882
700.5
3014627
31871.6
1998 vanillin
6177
81.9
2871008
27990.5
1998 ethyl vanillin
179703
289.6
354810
5173
1998 total
185880
371.5
3225818
33163.5
1999 vanillin
33814
359.3
3717709
31320.7
1999 ethyl vanillin
18705
306.6
467760
5982.1
1999 total
52519
665.9
4185469
37302.8
2000 vanillin
109947
725.8
3192076
25602
2000 ethyl vanillin
42109
622.6
314860
3359.4
2000 total
152056
1348.4
3506936
28961.4
4) Heliotropin (or piperonal)
In China most heliotropin is made from sassafras oil, most producers employing ozone during the production. But as the Chinese manufacturers employ potassium hydroxide during the isomerization, the air pollution is server. It is reported that some Chinese manufacturers are using catechol as raw material.
The annual production of heliotropin is about 1,000MT. 70% of Chinese heliptropin are exported every year. So far China has become the major supplier of heliotropin in the world. The Chinese heliotropin is mainly supplying to Hong Kong, German, USA, British, Swiss and Spanish.
Table 22. Import & export of heliotropin in the past
Import volume (kg)
Import value (1,000USD)
Export volume (kg)
Export Value (1,000USD)
1997
50
1
462,350
7,142
1998
100
3
473,300
8,860
1999
-
-
983,417
15,772
2000
-
-
665,465
9,582
5) Citral
In China, it is made from litsea cubeba oil. The citral from this source is used solely for flavor purpose. There is not synthetic citral in China because the production cost is too high for Chinese manufacturers.
The annual production of citral (natural) is around 800MT in China. Every year China also imports synthetic citral from BASF or India for the vitamin A production.
6) Lilial
Generally China is weak in the production of lilial. The total production of lilial in China is about 500MT/year. Every year China has to import lilial, mainly from Swiss (accounting to over 70%) and part of which from Japan, German.
Table 23. Import & export of lilial in China
Import volume (kg)
Import value (1,000USD)
Export volume (kg)
Export value (1,000USD)
1998
59,010
466
76,610
343
1999
146,987
1,260
63,150
533
2000
183,795
1,546
412,925
3,787
4. Acetone Flavors
In China, the production of acetone flavors account to around 15% of the total flavor production. The most important item is synthetic camphor.
1) Synthetic Camphor
In China synthetic camphor is made from gum turpentine. This is a strong items in China. The total production capacity is over 15,000MT/year. Apart from the consumption in flavors, synthetic camphor is also used as a raw material for pharmaceuticals. Every year nearly 70-80% of synthetic camphor is exported, mainly to India, German, USA, Taiwan, Thailand, etc.
Table 24. Import & export of synthetic camphor in China
Import volume(kg)
Import value (1,000USD)
Export volume (kg)
Export value (1,000USD)
1997
232,651
516
7,158,906
17,606
1998
214,975
489
7,524,479
12,971
1999
146,381
411
7,404,279
9,918
2000
341,410
581
8,863,309
11,673
2) Acetophenone
Acetophenone is also a strong flavor item in China. The annual production is around 2,000Mt. Apart from flavor, it is also used to make pharmaceuticals.
Every year China also export about 800MT of acetophenone to the oversea countries and 90% is to India.
Table 25.Import & export of acetophenone in China
Import volume(kg)
Import value (1,000USD)
Export volume (kg)
Export value (1,000USD)
1997
645,282
434
774,774
7,673
1998
419,629
361
491,788
4,993
1999
275,490
779
1,055,865
8,146
2000
166,931
802
826,634
5,029
3) Acetyl Cedrene (methyl cedryl ketone)
It is made from cedar wood oil, which is similar to that of from Texas of USA. Acetyl cedrene is made in Guizhou Flavors Factory and Hangzhou Huayang flavor & fragrance Co. Ltd. The total production in China is about 100MT/year. It is the main export items in Guizhou province, with annual export value of USD 1 million.
4) Ionone & methylionone
In China, ionone & methyl ionone are either made from natural citral, which comes from litsea cubeba oil, or made from synthetic citral, which is imported from overseas. Guangzhou Baihua Flavors Co. Ltd. and Shanghai Flavors General Factory are holding in the leading position in the production of ionone & methylionone. Mostly they use natural citral as raw material. The Chinese ionone and methyl ionone are used to make fragrance in China. Parts of Chinese products are exported.
In recent years China increased the import of ionone from Swiss and India, especially beta ionone, for vitamin A production. This kinds of ionone is made from synthetic citral.
Table 26. Import & export of ionone and methyl ionone in China
Import volume(kg)
Import value (1,000USD)
Export volume (kg)
Export value (1,000USD)
1997
23,150
353
50,980
586
1998
-
363
51,380
565
1999
52,385
1,033
74,978
912
2000
139,678
1,460
51,229
644
Note: the increment of the import volume since 1999 comes from the demand of vitamin A production in China.
5. Carboxylic Acid Flavors
Most carboxylic acid flavors are produced in China. These carboxylic acid include acetic acid, n-butyric acid, n-valeric acid, isovaleric acid, hexanoic acid, heptanoic acid, lauric acid, succinic acid, lactic acid, malic acid, tartaric acid, citric acid, benzoic acid, phenyl acetic acid, cinnamic acid, anisic acid, salicylic acid, etc. Most carboxylic acids are not used directly as flavors and they are used as intermediates in the production of esters, which are directly used in the fragrance production. So in the report we only select some typical carboxylic acid to discuss.
1) Lactic acid
The present production capacity of lactic acid in China is 20,000MT/year and the actual production is 15,000MT/year. About 40% Chinese lactic acid is used to make ethyl lactate, which can be use as a kind of flavor in the production of wine. In addition, lactic acid is also used as food additive. Every about 4,000MT of lactic acid and its esters are exported to Japan, Taiwan and USA.
2) Phenyl acetic Acid
Phenyl acetic acid is used to make penicillin, agrochemicals and flavors. There are once nearly 20 manufacturers in China. But as the pollution during the production is high and the production cost is high, many manufacturers stop production in the past years. At present the production capacity of phenyl acetic acid is about 10,000MT/year. But the actual production in China is less than 3,000Mt. The annual export of phenyl acetic acid is around 100MT. There is almost no import of phenyl acetic acid in China.
6. Ester Flavors
In China there are many kinds of ester flavors. The production of esters flavors accounts to near 20% of the total flavor production. But as most esters are also basic chemicals and they are used more widely in other fields than in flavors. So it is hard to estimate how much of a specific flavor is used for flavor. In this part we select some important ester flavors to discuss.
1) Benzyl Acetate
It is made by the reaction of benzyl alcohol and acetic acid. The production is around 3,000MT/year. The active manufacturers include:
Shanghai Flavors General Factory
Shanghai Pujia Flavor & Fragrance Co. Ltd.
2) Benzyl Benzoate
The annual production capacity is around 700MT. The major manufacturers include:
Tianjin Chentian Flavors Factory
Wuhan Organic Chemical Industry Co. Ltd.
3) Linalyl Acetate
Chinese manufacturers use cool method (20-22oC) to etherify linalool. The linalool is made from Shiu oil or gum turpentine. It is estimated that the total production of linalyl acetate is less than 100MT/year. The Chinese linalyl acetate is sold to domestic fragrance manufacturers. Typical manufacturers include;
Shanghai Flavor General Factory,
Shanghai Jiafu Flavor Factory,
Jiangxi Zhangshu Flavor Factory.
4) Salicylate series
The salicylate series flavors are made by the reaction of salicylic acids and alcohols, including methyl salicylate, butyl salicylate, isoamyl salicylate, hexyl salicylate, benzyl salicylate, phenylethyl salicylate, cis-3-hexenyl salicylate. The above-mentioned salicyates are all available in China.
7. Lactone Flavors
The species of lactone flavors is limited in China. The important one is coumarin and its derivatives.
1) Coumarin
Coumarin, dihydrocoumarin, ethyl coumarin and methylcoumarin are available in Chin. The major species is coumarin. The capacity of coumarin in China is around 1,000Mt/year. Before 1980s, the Chinese manufacturers used phenol and chloroform as raw material. After 1980s, the Chinese manufacturers used o-cresol as raw material. The present annual production of coumarin is 1,000Mt.
Every year China exports certain quantity of coumarin, methyl coumarin and ethyl coumarin to the overseer countries, mainly to Hong Kong, USA, Singapore and Spanish.
Table 27. Import & export of coumarin, methyl coumarin and ethyl coumarin in China
Import volume(kg)
Import value (1,000USD)
Export volume (kg)
Export value (1,000USD)
1997
30,292
98
590,933
6,103
1998
38,200
53
398,875
3,947
1999
46,604
93
675,375
5,553
2000
20,904
49
685,645
5,269
8. Phenol Flavors
1) Guaiacol
It is the intermediate for vanillin and ethyl vanillin. Also it is the raw material for synthetic sandalwood 803. Same as the situation of vanillin, the production capacity of guaiacol, is about 7,000MT/year. Jilin Petrochemical Corporation Reagent Factory and Tengzhou Jitian Flavors Co. Ltd.
2) Maltol & Ethyl Maltol
The Chinese maltol and ethyl maltol are competitive in price in the international market. So far there are nearly 10 manufacturers has the facilities to produce maltol and ethyl maltol. The production in China is over 500MT/year. Apart from the export, the Chinese maltol and ethyl maltol are over supplying. The dramatic drop in price make some Chinese manufacturers stop production, or almost stop production, because of the keen competition.
At present the central government no longer approve the new project for the maltol or ethyl maltol.
9. Ether Flavors
China is weak in the production of ether flavors. The main species cedryl methyl ether and anisole.
1) Cedryl methyl ether
It is one of the strong items of flavors in China. The annual production capacity is around 500MT. The important manufacturers include Hangzhou IFF flavor & fragrance Co. Ltd. and Guizhou Flavors Co. Ltd.
2) Anisole
It is used to make flavors, dyestuff. The production capacity is less than 100MT/year. The major manufacturers include Jilin Petrochemical Co. Ltd. and Xishan Ganlu Dongfeng Chemical Factory.
10. Musk Flavors
China is strong in the production of musk series flavors. Among the musk series flavors, the production of multi-ring musk accounts to nearly 60%. Nitromusk production accounts to about 35% while single ring musk accounts to about 5%. In the past China mainly produces nitromusk. But in the recent years the production nitromusk has been decreasing while the production of multi-ring musk is increasing.
1) Musk xylol
China began to produce musk xylol in 1950s. Now musk xylol is one of the large synthetic items in export quantity. The current production is around 1,500MT/year. The major manufacturers are Tianjian Freeworld Industry Co. Ltd. and Tianjin Dong Tian Suo Flavors Factory.
2) Musk Ketone
China began to produce it in 1950s. The export in 1985 was 72Mt. The current production is around 500MT/year. The major manufacturers include Tianjin Freeworld Industrial Co. Ltd. and Tianjin Flavors Factory.
3) Musk Ambrette
China began to produce it in 1950s. The export in 1985 was 120MT. Now the total production capacity is around 400MT/year. The manufacturers include:
Tianjin Flavors Factory
Shanghai Flavors General Factory
11. Nitrile Flavors, Sulfurous Flavors and heterocyclic Flavors
Each species of nitrile flavors, sulfurous flavors and heterocyclic flavors is not large in production quantity.
1) Nitrile series flavors
The main species of nitrile series flavors that are available in China include:
Campholenonitrile
Rosenitrile
Geranl nitrile
Citronellyl nitrile
Violetnitrile
Geranonitrile
2) Mercaptan series
There are nearly 20 species of mercaptan series flavors in China, including:
Methyl mercaptan
1,2-Ethyanedithiol
propyl mercaptan
3-Methylthio propanol
butyl mercaptan
1,6-Hexanedithiol
2,3-Butane dithiol
……
3) Sulfide series
There are nearly 20 species of sulfide series flavors in China, including:
Methyl sulfide
Propyl disulfide
Ally sulfide
Dibutyl sulfide
Methylfurfuryl sulfide
Difurfuryl disulfide
……
4) Furan series
There are around 10 species of furan series flavors in China including:
Furan
Tetrahydrofuran
Menthofuran
2-Acetyl furan
tetrahydrofuryl alcohol]
Furan carboxylic acid
2-Methyl-5-acetyl furan
2-Methyl-3-mercaptofuran
2-Methyl-3-methylthiofuran
……
5) Pyrrole series
The following pyrrole series flavors are available in China:
Pyrrole
Tetrahydropyrrole
N-Methylpyrrole
2-Acetyl pyrrole
N-Methyl-2-acetylpyrrole
N-Ethyl-2-acetylpyrrole
2-Propionyl pyrrole
N-Furfuryl pyrrole
6) Pyridine series flavors
The following pyridine series flavors are available in China:
2-Methyl pyridine
2,6-Dimethyl pyridine
2-Acetyl pyridine
3-Acetyl pyridine, 2-Methoxy pyridine
2-Ethoxy pyridine
7) Pyrazine series
China began the research on the synthesis of pyrazine derivatives in 1970s. The Chinese pyrazine series flavors manufacturers locate in Shandong Tengzhou, Hebei Shijiazhuang and Jiangsu Wujian, etc. At present China has become one of the major suppliers of pyrazine series flavors. There are over 30 kinds of pyrazine flavors available in China, including:
2,3-Dimethyl pyrazine
2,5-Dimethyl pyrazine
2,6-Dimethyl pyrazine
2,3,5-Trimethyl pyrazine
2,3,5,6-Tetramethyl pyrzaine
2-Methyl-3-Methoxy pyrazine
2-Methyl-3-ethoxy pyrazine
2-Methyl-3-methylthio pyrazine
2-Methyl-3-furfurylthio pyrazine
2-Ethyl pyrazine
2,3-Diethyl pyrazine
2,3-Diethyl-5-methyl pyrazine
……
8) Thiazole series
The production of thiazole series products in China is around 25,000MT/year. But almost all of them are used as rubber additive. The application of thiazole series in flavors in quite small, with no more than 1,000Mt/year. Now China can produce about 20 species of thiazole series flavors, including:
2,4-Dimethyl thiazole
4,5-Dimethyl thiazole
4-Methyl-5-ethylene thiazole
2,4,5-Trimethyl thiazole
2-Ethyl-4-methyl thiazole
……
Appendix III. Brief Situation of Foreign Companies in China
Note from CCM: In this sample report, the details contact information is omitted and replaced with xxxx. Please be noted.
Foreign companies involving both the production of flavors and the production of fragrances
1) IFF
They have two joint ventures in China, locating Guangzhou and Hangzhou, respectively. The total investment in China is over USD 45 millions. IFF has sales & administration offices in Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Hangzhou.
Guangzhou joint venture
Name: IFF Guangzhou Flavors & Fragrance Co. Ltd.
Address: xxxx
Tel: xxxx
Fax: xxxx
Person to contact: xxxx
Email: xxxx
Website: xxxx
The Guangzhou JV focuses on Chinese market. IFF invested at least 8 millions USD in Guangzhou factory to produce flavor & fragrance. The production capacity is 3,000Mt/year. Sometime they will produce by requirement.
Hangzhou joint venture:
Name: IFF Hangzhou Flavors & Fragrance Co. Ltd.
Address: xxxx
Tel: xxxx
Fax: xxxx
Person to contact: xxxx
Email: xxxx
Website: xxxx
The Hangzhou JV produces mainly cedryl ketone, heliotropin and methyl ionone, and exports these products to overseas. They use the raw materials from China include cedarwood oil, sassafras oil and litsea cubeba oil.
2) Givaudan
Givaudan of Swiss set up joint venture with Guizhou Flavor Factory in early 1990s, which mainly produce cedar wood oil derivatives including cedryl ethyl ether, cedryl ketone, etc.
In 2000 Givaudan joint ventured with Shanghai Sunve Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. to establish Shanghai Givaudan Sense & Innovation Development Center. This center will engage in the activities of R & D and production of flavor & fragrance. It is reported that the designed capacity of flavors & fragrance (mainly fragrance) in this joint venture is 5,000MT/year. It has not finished yet.
Givaudan has representative offices in Guangzhou, Beijing and Chongqing.
Shanghai joint venture
Name: Shanghai Givaudan Sense & Innovation Development Center
Address: xxxx
Tel: xxxx
Fax: xxxx
Person to contact: xxxx
Email: xxxx
Website: xxxx
3) Rodia
In 2000, Rodia bought Zhejiang Haining Snow Leopard Fine Chemical Factory which produce vanillin (1,000MT/year), and changed the name to Luohai (Zhejiang) Fine Chemical Co. Ltd. In addition, Rodia has investment in Wuxi. In Feb 2000, Rodia they finished the construction of guaiacol project in Wuxi (capacity 4,000MT/year) and began commercial production.
Rodia has offices in Beijing, Guangzhou, Shanghai.
Shanghai investment
Name: Rodia Shanghai Food Application Lab
Address: xxxx
Tel: xxxx
Fax: xxxx
Person to contact: xxxx
Email: xxxx
Website: xxxx
Foreign companies only involving in the fragrance production
1) Firmenich
Firmenich have two joint ventures locating in Kunming and Suzhou, respectively. These two joint ventures import flavors from overseas and makes fragrance in China.
- Kunming joint venture
Name: Kunming Firmenich Aromatics Co. Ltd.
Address: xxxx
Tel: xxxx
Fax: xxxx
Person to contact: xxxx
Email: xxxx
Website: xxxx
- Suzhou joint venture
Name: Suzhou Firmenich Co. Ltd.
Address: xxxx
Tel: xxxx
Fax: xxxx
Person to contact: xxxx
Email: xxxx
Website: xxxx
Suzhou Firmenich Co. Ltd. is a joint venture between Jiangsu Suzhou Flavors Factory and Firmenich.
2) Quest
Quest has a factory in Shanghai to make fragrance. It also has sales office in Beijing, Kunming, Guangzhou, Hong Kong.
- Shanghai joint venture
Name: Quest Shanghai Co. Ltd.
Address: xxxx
Tel: xxxx
Fax: xxxx
Person to contact: xxxx
Email: xxxx
Website: xxxx
3) Takassago
Takassago has a joint venture with Shanghai Jianchen Flavors Factory, named Shanghai Takassago Jianchen Fragrance Co. Ltd. It was set up in 1993.
The total registered assets of Shanghai Takassago Jianchen Fragrance Co. Ltd. are RMB70 million.
- Shanghai joint venture
Name: Shanghai Takassago Jianchen Fragrance Co. Ltd.
Address: xxxx
Tel: xxxx
Fax: xxxx
Person to contact: xxxx
Email: xxxx
Website: xxxx
4) H & R Cosfra
H & R Cosfra has a joint venture with Shanghai Daily Chemical Group. This company mainly produces fragrances. In March 2001 they began to build the new factory in Pudong Jinqiao Export Manufacturing Area. It is expected that the construction of the new factory will be finished in 2002. The total investment is USD15 million and the designed capacity is 10,000MT/year of fragrance.
- Shanghai joint venture
Name: Shanghai H & R Cosfra Fragrance Co. Ltd.
Address: xxxx
Tel: xxxx
Fax: xxxx
Person to contact: xxxx
Email: xxxx
Website: xxxx
5) Dragoco
Dragoco has set up research center, development center and production center in Shanghai in November 2000.
These centers locate in Shanghai Pudong Industrial Zone. The research & development center occupies 12,000M2 while the production center occupies 25,000M2. It is expected that the construction will be finished in 2002.
The investment in the first stage is USD1.1 million. In addition, Dragoco also sets up branch offices in Beijing, Chengdu, Guangzhou.
6) Melchers
Melchers Aroman GmbH and Melchers Flavors of America Inc. will set up flavor division in Shanghai. The main business of the division is to promote & produce fragrance and to do research on fragrance. The fragrances will be used in the fields of beverage, ice cream and candy.
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