China is the
largest exporter of vitamins and API (Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient) in the
world. According to 2017 data by China Customs the country exported almost 250
thousand tons of vitamins and account for about 90% of the US vitamin
market. Along with domestic manufacturers,
the country is home to many international enterprises that manufacturer
vitamins locally and then export it to other parts of the world. One such
international player operating in China is DSM Royal which started trading in
China in 1963 and established its manufacturing facility in the early 1990s.
Today, the company
has 39 affiliates and 21 manufacturing sites in China and is active across
almost its entire portfolio of Life science and Material Sciences in China. In
2015, the company acquired the Jiangshan vitamin c site from Aland and spent
two years to upgrade the plant, automated the production to drive up the
quality, improved worker safety, and wastewater treatment facilities.
Since then the company shut down the
production site every year in summer for up-gradation. The noise improvement initiative
was launched in 2016 and reduced
the production noise from 67 decibels to below 55
decibels. In 2017, the wastewater treatment improvement operation was
implemented to make the COD concentration of the discharged wastewater less
than 50mg/L, reaching the urban sewage discharge standard. The production line was last shut
down on July 2018 for four months and upgraded biogas boiler for efficient
energy recovery, this step not just helped the company in complying with the
new environmental regulations imposed by the Chinese government but also
reduced the GHG ( greenhouse gas) emission by 15%. In the three years from 2016 to 2018, the cumulative investment was
nearly 800 million yuan (USD112.86 million) for production suspension for upgrading.
But this year DSM
has extended its annual summer shut down period to implement the next series of
upgrades in the area of quality, safety, and sustainability. The
company is planning to switch the Jiangshan plant to natural gas power instead
of coal to reduce the carbon footprints of the plant by 50%.
Industry experts
fear that prolonged shutdown might affect the supply of vitamin c in the market
but according to De-Graaf-Groenendijk “the supply of vitamin c will not be
disrupted as this is a scheduled stop and we have assured the security of
supply of vitamin c to our contacted customers. Furthermore, the company is
committed to making future investments into sustainability initiatives across
its global production network.
Upgraded and
environment friendly vitamin production
lines across the country will not only reduce the risk of closure by the
government authorities but will also boost the confidence of international
consumer on Chinese label.
For more information about China’s vitamin market, please have a look at our monthly newsletter Vitamins China E-News.