Lasenor is actively present in the main sourcing areas for NON GMO lecithin. We will offer regular feedback on its development as a diagnosing tool.
Non GMO Soya – Identity Preserved
Crop 2020 in India
Crops estimations – Lecithin production – Crude lecithin prices
Crop 2019 was hit by high percentage % of damaged seed due to weather adverse conditions, as a result the production of Lecithin dropped significantly.
The flow of seeds from the farmers to the crushers was steady between October and February 2019, therefore prices kept in a relative low range.
On the contrary, crop 2020 has had lower amount % of damaged seeds. Nevertheless the supply from farmers to crushers has been interrupted due to floods, leading to speculative movements and a price hike as a result.
Even more so, the edible oil complex in Chicago and Malaysia hit the highest levels in more than 5 years which prompted crushers to speculate with prices even more.
Due to this market situation, prices for Non GM IP Soya lecithin have gone up from 6% to 9% comparing 2020 versus 2021.
It is also worth to underline Ocratoxin (OTA) presence in foodstuffs originated in India:
Over the past 2-3 years we have been seeing its predominance rising in this country.
This may lead to a double market in a very near future:
- High price for low OTA level lecithin suitable for sensitive applications such as Infant formulas, breakfast cereals, etc ….
- Lower price for Lecithins with few restrictions for OTA.
Crop 2020 in Rusia
Russia has now become trusted option for non GMO IP Soya lecithin.
Local legislation forbids use of GM derived foodstuffs in Russia.
Crops estimations for the past 2 years are as follows:
Sunflower
Crop 2020 in Rusia
EU – Sunflower seeds production
EU – Sunflower oil production
The sunflower production at 8,86 Million Tons is significantly below both last year’s crop and 5 years avarage dua to reduced output in Romania and Bulgaria.
In our views the development of the market dynamics has given contradictory signs during September/December 2020:
- Crushers in Russia/Ukraine were cautious about low availability, and price offered for crude Sunflower Lecithin has been marked up from the early season due to availability concerns.
- Western European crushers were aware of the scarcity of raw material in Russia/Ukraine, but the pressure to gain market share and have payback on latest investments done over the past 5 years prompted them to follow the price downtrend.
Organic Lecithin
Here we would like to recap our Lecithin News issue of Q1 2020 that expressed our concern about the reliability of product available in the marketplace:
1/ Crop productivity: 2 Metric Tonnes of seeds per Hectare. *Average yield for conventional sunflower; likely to be smaller for organic crops
Oil Extraction Yield considering only mechanical pressing is allowed: 32% in weight from seed.
Lecithin content: 7 Kg per Metric Ton of Crude Sunflower Oil* (*Internal Lasenor data).
As a consequence, prices were at their lowest at the end of last year. But, later on, when time has come to deliver to the customers, sellers were experiencing strong difficulties to find the raw material required to fulfil with their agreements.
Logically, prices went up and are still increasing significantly as a result of this lower availability.
We believe this trend will continue until the new harvest arrives in Europe.
According to our research the Potential World Production of Organic Sunflower Lecithin raises to approx. 800 Tons per annum worldwide.
2/ Data gathered from Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Government of India and Chinese Agricultural University of Beijing shows that prevalence of Organic crops are non existing in India nor China.
Nevertheless, Chinese and Indian suppliers are offering unlimited (non limited) volumes of Organic Sunflower Lecithin, which is quite remarkable taking into consideration that no organic crops are planted in neither these two of these countries. More surprising is for India taking into account that it is monthly importing 1.000 Tons of conventional Sunflower Lecithin.
Trends
Non GMO products in the US market
In November 2017 & May 2018 editions we were stating
“The debate for the GM food present in the US shelves is ongoing on media and American public opinion. The vast proliferation of Supermarket chains focused on natural and organic products has increased demand of Non GMO and Allergen Free Lecithin to be used by food manufacturers. Initially, only premium brands required such Lecithin and other natural ingredients as well, but in recent years it has grown to a general domain. More strict controls are in place to guarantee absence of GM ingredients in foodstuffs.”
“Deadline of July’18 for the USDA to pronounce on a federal position in the United States regarding labeling of GMO, as well with the fact that public awareness in the matter is a hot topic, it has triggered demand in the largest market in the world. Large supermarket chains are already showing NON-GMO product lines, and in some cases with NON-GMO global policies.
Also, the uptrend for the cleaner label is boosting the substitution of synthetic emulsifiers for natural (with more natural emulsification) solutions such as functional specialty Lecithin, that can potentially replace synthetic emulsifiers in some bakery & confectionary applications.
Food producers are seeking alternatives to synthetic emulsifiers, and enzymatically modified Lecithin can, in some applications, play the same role with more label-friendly.”
This is now a reality: US companies have settled strong “well-being projects”, Non-GMO being a major challenge for the coming years
More and more companies are getting concerned by environmental matters, looking for close supply. This topic now forms part the key factors of the purchase decision for many of them.
- Lasenor started many years ago with saving measures to reduce our energy consumption, but it has not been until 2018thatwehaveaclearmonitoringofourCO2 footprint for Scope.
- Our main actions are concentrated in:
– Energy efficiency in our production.
– Take advantage of the high solar radiation that we have in our part of the World.
- Lasenor main consumption is by far in Olesa de Montserrat, but the monitoring program and consequent planning will also be ready for all our 5 subsidiaries by end 2020.
Lasenor is making an ambitious internationalization expansion in order to be able to offer equivalent products in the different main economic regions in the World. This project allows us to be very close to the raw material sourcing and to our customers plants.
