Currently, the production capacity of citric acid in China amounts to 70 percent of the world. Yearly capacity is 65% percent of the world. China is the biggest country in the world that produce citric acid. In 2010, the production capacity of citric acid in China amounts to 980 thousand metric tons, becoming the largest in the history. In 2011, the production capacity was almost the same as that of last year. Because of the fast increasing production capacity of citric acid in China, now the supply largely exceeds the demand, which results in the lower profit for citric acid producers.
Citric acid is a kind of acidulant,majorly used in food, medicine and chemical industry. Chinese citric acid is mainly used in food and beverages. Domestic demand is insufficient. The insufficient domestic demand and the expanding production capacity lead to citric acid's high dependence on exportation. The export quantity is also increasing year by year.
The price of China's citric acid is very competitive in the global market. It is reported that China's citric acid price is 20 percent lower than the average price of the international market. In order to seize oversea market, Chinese enterprises carry out low price strategies. Although the strategy brings bigger market, the profit is much lower in comparison with that of past. Actions taken by other countries to limit Chinese citric acid to their market worsened the export environment. The high dependence of citric acid enterprises on exportation, to some extent, prevents the healthy development of citric acid industry. To achieve a healthy and stable development of citric acid industry, it is very important for the enterprises to take early actions to either adjust the production structure of citric acid or seek other ways to weaken the reply on international market.