10 FAQs To Get Clearly About Berberine Powder On The Market

August 25, 2023

Nutri Avenue

Berberine is a plant alkaloid. Its chemical name is “berberine hydrochloride”. It was first isolated from Berberis in 1917 by British chemist Alfred Stolz. Later, it was obtained from other plants, such as rhubarb vine root, three-needle whole tree, Coptis chinensis rhizome, cork bark, etc.

Berberine Market Size

In China, the export volume of Bulk berberine is about 300-500 tons a year. The consumption of Berberine supplements is about 100 tons a year.

Where Is The Main Market?

The US and Europe are the major consuming countries.

Is Irradiation Required For Export?

Without irradiation. Because, unlike other plant extracts, berberine powder itself has antibacterial effects.

Is There A Raw Material Trademark In The Market?

Berbevis ® is an Italian raw material brand. However, in the market, few brands and companies use this trademark for products. At present, no solid raw material trademark brand has been found. The customer’s formula is marked with the raw material’s name. No factory brand has a monopoly on the raw material supply side.

Berberine Recipe Collocation Reference

Most of them are formulated with Berberine HCL monomer raw material. A small part is used with other products such as milk thistle, CoQ10 powder, etc.

Market Price Level And Its Trend

Based on the US market, bulk berberine powder costs $115-128/kg. The price of Bulk berberine granule is $108-125/kg. Comparing the two forms, the amount of powder is larger than that of granules.

In 2018, its price was around $72/kg. Starting from 2019, the price of berberine powder has increased significantly. The market offer reached $98/kg. This price has been maintained until now, and it has been 3 to 4 years.

According to the market demand, the market price will rise to over $110/kg this year.

What Plant Does Berberine Come From?

Most domestic factories producing berberine are concentrated in Sichuan because Sichuan is the main planting base of cork cypress. However, the raw materials grown in China may only be enough for a small part of the usage, and most still have to rely on imports. Raw material importers generally import 60% of crude berberine from Indonesia, Myanmar, India, Vietnam, and other places. Then, it is sold to downstream production plants in Sichuan for further processing to purify the content to 97%.

Extraction Process: Natural Extraction

The berberine produced by the synthetic process itself has quality problems. Due to the use of certain metals in the production process, heavy metals exceed the standard. This process cannot remove or reduce the content of heavy metals. In addition, the cost of this synthesis process is not low. The tonnage price is around $95/kg. Therefore, few companies in the market use synthetic berberine, and the mainstream is natural extraction.

Reasons For The Shortage Of Berberine Sources

Recently, the problem of shortage of sources of this ingredient has become more and more serious. Many factories need to delay delivery. There are two reasons for this situation.

Overseas control over the export of berberine raw materials is becoming more and more stringent.
In the past year, China Customs has also conducted stricter spot checks on imported raw materials than before