Carnitine Production, Market and Benchmarking in China

L-Carnitine, a natural and water soluble nutrient that can be produced by human body and also can be obtained from muscles, is an indispensable factor in the metabolism of fat and has many essential functions in human body.

These years, the role of Chinese L-Carnitine industry in the world has become more and more important. Although L-Carnitine has been discovered for over a century and has developed quite well in Switzerland, Italy, US and Japan, the production and industrial application of L-Carnitine in China just began 10~15 years ago. However, the L-Carnitine industry develops rapidly in China. At the moment, China’s L-Carnitine is competitive both at home and aboard thanks to its low price and good quality. 12 Chinese producers are active in production of L-Carnitine currently. Their total output of L-Carnitine in 2007 reached 1,408 tonnes, 34.94% of which was exported. And only small quantity of L-Carnitine is imported.

What will the role of China\'s L-Carnitine industry be in the global market? Will the export volume grow larger in the future? This report will answer these questions.

Because of the Beijing Olympic Games and the rising prices of some major raw materials, the price of L-Carnitine has been growing since the end of 2007 or early 2008, and it has been 20%~40% higher than that in the past 3 years. How does it influence domestic L-Carnitine production and the export? Can domestic L-Carnitine producers earn considerable profit under the current situation? CCM will give a detailed analysis in this report.

Driven by the huge profits and positive market prospects, many Chinese L-Carnitine manufacturers expand their capacities. It is forecasted that production capacity of L-Carnitine in China will have a sharp rise in the next few years. The competition between L-Carnitine manufacturers in China will be increasingly apparent. Moreover, with the development of oversea producers, the competitions among countries will grow increasingly intense. Compared with some internationally well-known L-Carnitine producers such as Lonza, are there any other competitive advantages in major domestic L-Carnitine producers apart from low production cost? Can they still earn satisfying profit when facing the international L-Carnitine producing giants?

L-Carnitine is mainly used in health food and feed in China. As China is a country with huge potential market for health food and feed and more and more Chinese people realize the importance of health food, the consumption of L-Carnitine will be even larger in China. Are there any other potential large consumption fields of L-Carnitine in China? What is the future of L-Carnitine production in China? This report will also reveal the current situations of L-Carnitine application and demand in China.
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Executive summary 6
Methodology and definitions 11
I Production and market information of Carnitine in China 13
I-1 Brief history of Carnitine production in China 13
I-2 Current production situation of Carnitine in China 15
I-2.1 Summary of manufacturers 15
I-2.2 Summary of production and market 17
I-3 Development of Carnitine derivatives in China 21
I-4 Production technology of Carnitine in China 25
I-5 Situation of researchers and their achievement in China 28
I-6 Supply of major raw materials of Carnitine in China 29
I-6.1 Brief introduction to raw materials involved in Carnitine production 29
I-6.2 Current supply of major raw materials of Carnitine in China 29
I-7 Import and export of Carnitine and its derivatives in the recent three years 34
I-7.1 Import situation of Carnitine and its derivatives 34
I-7.2 Export situation of Carnitine and its derivatives 35
I-8 Consumption pattern of Carnitine in China 45
I-8.1 Consumption pattern 45
I-8.2 End user list 49
I-9 Future forecast 53
I-9.1 Key factors and driven forces for the development of Carnitine in China 53
I-9.1.1 Macro economics 53
I-9.1.2 Policies 57
I-9.1.3 Demand from end use fields 60
I-9.1.4 Health situation of China\'s people 62
I-9.2 Future forecast on Carnitine in the Next 5-10 Years 64
I-10 Conclusion 67
II Benchmarking of Carnitine 68
II-1 Introduction to this work 68
II-2 Theoretical Analysis 68
II-2.1 Chemical synthesis method 69
II-2.1.1 Model 1 69
II-2.1.2 Model 2 72
II-2.2 Enzymatic conversion method 75
II-2.3 Carnitine derivatives 77
II-2.3.1 Acetyl L-Carnitine 77
II-3 Verification and profit estimation of Chinese manufacturers 78
II-3.1 Northeast Pharmaceutical Group Co., Ltd. (NEPG) 78
II-3.1.1 Survey and site visit summary 78
II-3.1.2 Profit estimation of Carnitine 81
II-3.4 Lonza 92
II-3.4.1 Survey summary 92
II-3.4.2 Profit estimation of Carnitine 93
II-3.5 Comparison between Lonza and some domestic Carnitine producers 95
III Appendix: profiles of major producers in China 96
III-1 Shenyang Koncepnutra Co., Ltd.(Shenyang Dongyu Fine Chemicals Co. Ltd.) 96
III-12 Shanghai Kechang Fine Chemicals Co. Ltd. 109
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Table I-1-1 Development history of L-Carnitine in China
Table I-1-2 Development history of L-Carnitine in the world
Table I-2.1-1 Basic info of L-Carnitine producers in China, 2008
Table I-2.1-2 Capacity and output of L-Carnitine producers in China, 2008
Table I-2.1-3 Output and capacity breakdown by regions, 2008
Table I-2.2-1 Quoted price of L-Carnitine from different manufacturers, Jul-2008, RMB/kg
Table I-2.2-2 Quoted price of L-Carnitine and its derivatives from Zhejiang Jiashan, unit: RMB/kg
Table I-3-1 Specification of Acetyl-L-Carnitine from NEPG, 2008
Table I-3-2 Output of Acetyl-L-Carnitine (HCl) in China, 2007
Table I-3-3 Specification of L-Carnitine tartrate from NEPG, 2008
Table I-3-4 Output of L-Carnitine Tartrate in China, 2007
Table I-3-5 Specification of L-Carnitine Fumarate from NEPG, 2008
Table I-3-6 Output of L-Carnitine Fumarate in China, 2007
Table I-3-7 Specification of DL-Carnitine Orotate from Shenyang Koncepnutra, 2008
Table I-3-8 Specification of L-Carnitine Orotate from Shenyang Koncepnutra, 2008
Table I-4-1 Comparison of production technologies of Carnitine in China
Table I-5-1 Research situation on the production of Carnitine in China in recent years
Table I-6.1-1 Nature Sources of L-Carnitine
Table I-6.2.1-1 Major epichlorohydrin Manufacturers in China, 2008
Table I-6.2.1-2 Supply situation of Epichlorohydrin in China, 2005~2007, tonnes
Table I-6.2.1-3 Price change of Epichlorohydrin in China in recent years, RMB/t
Table I-6.2.1-4 Consumption Pattern of Epichlorohydrin in China
Table I-6.2.2-1 Major timethylamine manufacturers in China, 2008
Table I-6.2.2-2 Trimethylamine consumption pattern in China, 2008
Table I-6.2.3-1 Major producers of sodium cyanide in China, 2008
Table I-6.2.3-2 Export and import of sodium cyanide in recent two years, kt
Table I-6.2.3-3 Consumption pattern of sodium cyanide in China, 2008
Table I-7.1-1 Import of Carnitine in 2005-2007 (Quantity (kg); Price (USD/kg))
Table I-7.1-2 Origin countries of Carnitine in 2005-2007 (Quantity (kg); Price (USD/kg))
Table I-7.1-3 Importers of Carnitine in 2005-2007 (Quantity (kg); Price (USD/kg))
Table I-7.2-1 Export price of Carnitine in 2005 (Quantity (kg); Price (USD/kg))
Table I-7.2-2 Export price of Carnitine in 2006 (Quantity (kg); Price (USD/kg))
Table I-7.2-3 Export price of Carnitine in 2007 (Quantity (kg); Price (USD/kg))
Table I-7.2-4 Exporter of Carnitine in 2005 (Quantity (kg); Price (USD/kg))
Table I-7.2-5 Exporter of Carnitine in 2006 (Quantity (kg); Price (USD/kg))
Table I-7.2-6 Exporter of Carnitine in 2007 (Quantity (kg); Price (USD/kg))
Table I-7.2-7 Export destination of Carnitine in 2005 (Quantity (kg); Price (USD/kg))
Table I-7.2-8 Export destination of Carnitine in 2006 (Quantity (kg); Price (USD/kg))
Table I-7.2-9 Export destination of Carnitine in 2007 (Quantity (kg); Price (USD/kg))
Table I-7.2-10 Export situation of Chinese manufacturers in 2005 (Quantity (kg); Price (USD/kg))
Table I-7.2-11 Export situation of Chinese manufacturers in 2006(Quantity (kg); Price (USD/kg))
Table I-7.2-12 Export situation of Chinese manufacturers in 2007(Quantity (kg); Price (USD/kg))
Table I-8.1-1 Applications of L-Carnitine and its derivates in medicines, foods and cosmetics
Table I-8.1-2 Applications of L-Carnitine in feeds
Table I-8.2-1 List of some L-Carnitine end users in food area in China, 2008
Table I-8.2-2 List of some L-Carnitine end users in feed area in China, 2008
Table I-8.2-3 Part of L-Carnitine pharmaceutical producers registered in SFDA, 2008
Table I-9.1.2-1 Specification regulated in National Standards for Food Additive L-Carnitine (base), GB 17787-1999
Table I-9.1.2-2 Specification of L-Carnitine base regulated in USP26 and EP
Table I-9.1.2-3 Specifications of feed additive L-Carnitine regulated in NY/T 1028-2006
Table I-9.1.2-4 Using fields and usage levels of L-Carnitine or its derivatives specified in GB2760-1996/GB14880-1994
Table I-9.1.2-5 Export rebate for the HS code 29239000 involved Carnitine
Table I-9.1.3-1 Output of feed in China, 2000~2007, tonnes
Table I-9.1.4-1 Top 10 causes of death in China in 2007
Table I-9.2.1-1 Assumptions on the growth of the market size of L-Carnitine in China, 2008~2018
Table II-2.1.1-1 Yield rate of each reaction of model 1
Table II-2.1.1-2 Estimation on raw material consumption for model 1
Table II-2.1.2-1 Yield rate of each reaction of model 2
Table II-2.1.2-2 Estimation on raw material consumption for model 2
Table II-2.2-1 Estimation on raw material consumption for enzymatic conversion method
Table II-2.3.1-1 Estimation on raw material consumption for Acetyl L-Carnitine
Table II-3.1.2 -1 Estimation on raw material consumption of L-Carnitine in NEPG in July 2008
Table II-3.1.2-2 Estimation on manufacturing cost of L-Carnitine in NEPG in July 2008
Table II-3.1.2-3 Estimation on the total production cost in NEPG in July 2008 (Unit: RMB/kg)
Table II-3.1.2-4 Estimation on the profit of L-Carnitine in NEPG in July 2008
Table II-3.2.2-1 Estimation on raw material consumption of L-Carnitine in Shenyang Kongcepnutra in July 2008
Table II-3.2.2-2 Estimation on manufacturing cost of L-Carnitine in Shenyang Kongcepnutra in July 2008
Table II-3.2.2-3 Estimation on the total production cost in Shenyang Kongcepnutra in July 2008 (Unit: RMB/kg)
Table II-3.2.2-4 Estimation on the profit of L-Carnitine in Shenyang Kongcepnutra in July 2008
Table II-3.3.2 -1 Estimation on raw material consumption of L-Carnitine in Shenzhen Asiatop in July 2008
Table II-3.3.2-2 Estimation on manufacturing cost of L-Carnitine in Shenzhen Asiatop in July 2008
Table II-3.3.2-3 Estimation on the total production cost in Shenzhen Asiatop in July 2008 (Unit: RMB/kg)
Table II-3.3.2-4 Estimation on the profit of L-Carnitine in Shenzhen Asiatop in July 2008
Table II-3.4.2-1 Estimation on raw material consumption of L-Carnitine in Lonza in July 2008
Table II-3.4.2-2 Estimation on the total production cost in Lonza in July 2008 (Unit: EUR/kg)
Table II-3.5-1 Comparison between Lonza and some domestic Carnitine producers in July 2008
Table III-3-1 Prices of major products in Zhejiang Jiashan in July 2008
Table III-6-1 Prices of major products in Zhangjiagang Xinyu in July 2008(RMB/t)
Table III-7-1 Prices of major products in Shenzhen Asiatop(RMB/kg)
Table III-10-1 Prices of major products in Hubei Hongjing(RMB/kg)
Table III-12-1 Quoted price of Shanghai Kechuang, Jul 2008(RMB/kg)

Figure I-2.2-1 Output breakdown by species in 2007, tonnes, %
Figure I-8.1-1 L-Carnitine as transporter of fatty acid and the metabolite waste in the metabolism of fat in animal cells
Figure I-8.1-2 Apparent consumption of L-Carnitine and its derivative in China, 2003~2007, tonnes
Figure I-8.1-3 Consumption pattern of L-Carnitine and its derivatives in China, 2007, tonnes, %
Figure I-9.1.1-1 GDP growth of China in the past 8 years
Figure I-9.1.1-2 Exchange rate of RMB against USD
Figure I-9.1.1-3 Exchange rate of RMB against EU and 100 Yen in recent years
Figure I-9.1.3-1 Production value of health food in China, 2000~2007, million yuan
Figure I-9.1.4-1 Populations of overweight adults and obesity adults in China
Figure I-9.1.4-2 Overweight & obesity rate of adults in China
Figure I-9.2.1-1 Future demand of L-Carnitine in China, 2008~2018, tonnes
Figure I-9.2.2-1 Future output of L-Carnitine in China, 2008~2018, tonnes
Figure I-9.2.2-2 Future export of L-Carnitine in China, 2008~2018, tonnes
Figure II-2.1.1-1 Flow chart of model 1
Figure II-2.1.2-1 Flow chart of model 2
Figure II-2.2-1 Flow chart of enzymatic conversion method
Figure II-2.3.1-1 Flowchart of Acetyl L-Carnitine
Figure II-3.1.1-1 Flowchart of chemical separation of D,L-Carnitine to L-Carnitine in Shenzhen Asiatop
Figure II-3.3.1-1 Flowchart of chemical separation of D,L-Carnitine to L-Carnitine in Shenzhen Asiatop
Figure II-3.3.1-2 Flowchart of chemical synthesis Acetyl-L-Carnitine (ALC) from L-Carnitine in Shenzhen Asiatop
Figure II-3.4.1 Flowchart of L-Carnitine production in Lonza
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