Cinnamon & Cassia (Ceylon, Korintje, Vietnam, China)

Ceylon quills by SLS 81 grade, cassia by origin and oil

Cinnamon and cassia are two different buys under one HS heading (0906), and the contract has to say which one. True cinnamon (Cinnamomum verum) comes from Sri Lanka and is sold as quills graded by diameter under the Sri Lanka standard SLS 81: Alba at 6 mm or less, C5 Special at 6–7 mm, C5 at 7–9 mm, C4 at 9–11 mm, and the heavier H grades at 16–32 mm, with a minimum quill length of 200 mm in a bale for Alba through C3 and 150 mm for the M and H grades; quillings are the broken pieces and trimmings used for grinding. Cassia is the other trade: China, Indonesia and Vietnam. Indonesian Korintje comes from the Kerinci area of Jambi on Sumatra and is graded A, B and C, with A the thinnest, most tightly rolled bark and the highest volatile oil. Vietnamese cassia comes mostly from Yen Bai, with some from Quang Nam, and carries the highest volatile oil of the three. UN Comtrade 2024 export declarations put Sri Lanka at 19,546 MT of HS 0906 at USD 10,971/MT, China at 54,144 MT at USD 2,315 and Indonesia at 28,842 MT at USD 3,892, which is the Ceylon premium in one line.

Coumarin is the reason a European buyer must name the species. Cassia can carry up to around 12,000 mg/kg of coumarin against typically under 250 mg/kg in Ceylon cinnamon, and Regulation (EC) 1334/2008 caps coumarin in finished foods at 50 mg/kg for traditional and seasonal bakery ware labelled with cinnamon, 20 mg/kg in breakfast cereals, 15 mg/kg in fine bakery ware and 5 mg/kg in desserts, so bakery and cereal formulators buying for the EU often specify Ceylon or a coumarin figure on the certificate. EU contaminant limits for bark spices include lead at 2.0 mg/kg, and pesticide residues run to Regulation (EC) 396/2005; ethylene oxide is not authorised in the EU, so EU-bound lots move with an ETO-free statement, while US-bound lots meet EPA tolerances under 40 CFR 180. CBIL is a commodity brokerage company and brokers cinnamon and cassia to grinders, bakery and cereal manufacturers, extractors and retail packers against a certificate of analysis for moisture, volatile oil, coumarin, aflatoxin and pesticide residue, a phytosanitary certificate and certificate of origin, in pressed bales, cartons or 25 kg bags, container-load, on FOB, CFR and CIF terms. Price is set per lot on species, grade, origin and form; send the grade, diameter or oil floor and destination with your RFQ.

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.