Over the past couple of years alone major players such as CP Kelco, FMC Biopolymer, BASF, Novozymes, Cargill, Danisco and DSM, have all hiked up their prices for products ranging from vitamins E and B3, to sugar molasses and citric acid.
This month DSM announced a ten per cent price increase for all its citric acid, produced in Belgium, on a worldwide basis. The increase, which is effective immediately, was "due to cost increases in raw materials and in energy".
In the wake of "sharp increases" in raw materials, in September the firm further announced a 10 per cent rise in global prices for vitamin E supplies. Orafti pushed up prices of its Beneo fibre ingredient by six per cent.
Bio Springer also said rising costs and shrinking supply of sugar molasses were driving up the cost of yeast extract production, announcing a double digit price increase for its extracts as of next year. Sugar molasses are the main raw material for yeast extracts but over the past three years the cost of sugar molasses has risen by 10 per cent. Energy prices and the impact of the EU's sugar reform were blamed.
This summer Swiss biotech company Lonza announced a worldwide price hike of up to 12 per cent for vitamin B3 in a bid to pass-on increasing production costs.
The company blamed the rises for vitamin B3 and niacinamide on rising costs for raw materials, energy and transportation. The main raw material for vitamin B3 and niacinamide, a substance derived from niacin, are petrochemicals.
Last year Purac put prices up for lactic acid, lactates, gluconic acid, gluconates and lactitol. The firm said the rises would vary from between five and ten per cent depending upon product category, and could vary from region to region. National Starch Food Innovation said it would increase prices in Europe on a range of products including food and texturising starches. Prices will increase by eight to 10 per cent, effective from 15 November 2006.
BASF announced it will increase worldwide prices for vitamin B2 for animal feed due to increased production and marketing costs, and warned an increase for the food grade is likely to follow.
In 2005 lactic acid giant Galactic revealed substantial price increases on the back of rocketing energy costs. The company said that the increases would vary from five to 15 per cent, depending on the product concerned.
Soy ingredients supplier Solae blamed soaring costs for natural gas for pushing the price up for its line of soy lecithin products.
Solae, a partnership between soy supplier Bunge and DuPont, will hike up prices for its Solec soy lecithin product portfolio by between 5 and 15 per cent.
Tate & Lyle's European food and industrial ingredients division proposed increase of 10 to 15 per cent on new contracts for a range of products.
