Pectin (HM / LM, E440) and Carrageenan (Kappa / Iota, E407 and E407a)

Citrus and apple pectin and refined or semi-refined carrageenan from the plants that make them

Pectin and carrageenan are the two gelling hydrocolloids, one from fruit peel and one from red seaweed, and both are bought by function rather than by chemistry. Pectin (E440, HS 1302.20) is extracted from citrus peel (the larger share) and apple pomace; the degree of esterification sorts it: above 50% it is high-methoxyl (HM) pectin, which gels with sugar and acid and is the jam, confectionery and acidified-milk-drink pectin, graded by set time (rapid, medium, slow set) and standardised to 150 °USA-SAG; below 50% it is low-methoxyl (LM) pectin, conventional or amidated (E440(ii)), which gels with calcium and serves low-sugar jams, dairy desserts and fruit preparations. EU purity criteria in Regulation (EU) No 231/2012 require not less than 65% galacturonic acid on the ash- and moisture-free basis. Production sits where peel and technology meet: one 2024 estimate puts world pectin output at about 73,500 MT, more than two-thirds from citrus peel and about a fifth from apple pomace. UN Comtrade 2023 export declarations under HS 1302.20 show Germany at USD 205 million and 11,600 MT, Brazil USD 93 million and 9,100 MT, China USD 79 million and 7,000 MT, France USD 61 million, Czechia USD 61 million, the Netherlands USD 28 million, Switzerland USD 22 million and the USA USD 19 million; the plants are the world's largest at Lille Skensved in Denmark, at Limeira and Bebedouro in Brazil (the second opened in 2021 on orange peel), at Tecomán in Mexico on lime peel, and the apple-pectin works in Germany. Carrageenan (HS 1302.39) is extracted from Eucheuma cottonii (kappa, a firm brittle gel with potassium) and Eucheuma spinosum (iota, a soft elastic gel with calcium). Refined carrageenan (E407) is the alcohol- or gel-pressed product; semi-refined carrageenan or processed Eucheuma seaweed (E407a) is the alkali-treated, washed and milled seaweed, which may hold up to 15% algal cellulose as insoluble matter and prices well below refined. Both must meet the E407 purity criteria: sulphate 15–40% on the dry basis, viscosity not less than 5 mPa·s at 1.5% and 75 °C, loss on drying not more than 12%, arsenic 3, lead 5, mercury 1 and cadmium 2 mg/kg, residual solvents not more than 0.1%, and a low-molecular-weight fraction (below 50 kDa) of not more than 5%. Comtrade 2023 declarations under HS 1302.39 (which also holds agar and other seaweed extracts) show China at USD 571 million and 55,400 MT, the Philippines USD 282 million and 29,700 MT, Spain USD 155 million and 12,800 MT, Indonesia USD 141 million and 14,200 MT, Chile USD 111 million and France USD 101 million. Philippine industry data count at least 16 carrageenan plants in 2020, mostly in Cebu, with about 65% of dried seaweed going to semi-refined and 22% to refined carrageenan. Those are declared values and industry counts, not offers.

The buyer is a jam, fruit-preparation or confectionery plant, a dairy or plant-based dairy manufacturer, a meat or pet-food processor (carrageenan as a water binder), a beverage plant, a toothpaste or personal-care formulator, a pharmaceutical excipient buyer or a hydrocolloid distributor. Documents are the producer's certificate of analysis (COA) for degree of esterification and SAG grade (pectin) or gel strength, viscosity and sulphate (carrageenan), the safety data sheet (SDS), a certificate of origin naming the plant, and halal and kosher certificates from bodies the buyer accepts; neither product is classed as dangerous goods for sea carriage. CBIL is a commodity brokerage company and brokers HM and LM pectin from German, Danish, Brazilian, Mexican and Spanish plants and kappa and iota carrageenan, refined and semi-refined, from Philippine and Indonesian processors and trader positions, in 25 kg multiwall bags palletised in 20-ft dry containers or groupage, on FCA, FOB, CFR and CIF terms. Price is per MT on grade and standardisation; minimum quantities are confirmed per product and pack. Send the application, the grade or gel test you buy against, certification, volume and destination, and the enquiry is screened and worked against it.

Excluded origins are not offered, including product re-exported, blended or re-processed through a third country. Every lot moves with a certificate of origin naming the producing plant, mine or grower country, and nothing is quoted before the seller and loading point are known.