Star Anise (China, Vietnam)

Whole and broken Illicium verum, spring and autumn crop

Star anise (HS 0909.61) is the dried eight-pointed fruit of Illicium verum, and the export trade comes from two neighbouring growing areas: Guangxi in southern China, which produces most of China's crop, and Lang Son in northern Vietnam, which holds around 70–75% of Vietnam's star anise area, with Quang Ninh the other province. UN Comtrade 2024 export declarations put China at 18,379 MT of HS 0909.61 at USD 5,220/MT; Vietnam does not report to that dataset, but its own trade figures show more than 4,300 MT exported in the first four months of 2026 for over USD 17 million. Vietnam harvests two crops: the spring crop from March to May and the autumn crop from August to September, and the autumn crop is the one buyers pay for, with bigger fruit, fuller seeds and a stronger aroma. The trade sells whole star anise with a stated broken percentage (5% is a common standard), broken star anise as the cheaper grinding grade, and ground.

The risk that matters is species, not grade. Japanese star anise (Illicium anisatum) looks the same once dried and contains anisatin, a neurotoxin; the US FDA advised in 2003 that dried Chinese and Japanese star anise cannot be told apart by eye and must be separated by chemical testing, after illnesses linked to star anise teas. A contract should therefore call for species identification by an accredited laboratory alongside moisture, broken percentage, foreign matter, aflatoxin and pesticide residue. EU entry runs against Regulation (EC) 396/2005 and ETO-free status, since ethylene oxide is not authorised in the EU; US entry runs to EPA tolerances under 40 CFR 180 and FDA. CBIL is a commodity brokerage company and brokers star anise to spice grinders and blenders, retail packers, beverage and confectionery manufacturers, against a certificate of analysis, phytosanitary certificate and certificate of origin, in 10–25 kg cartons or PP bags, container-load, on FOB, CFR and CIF terms. Price is set per lot on crop, whole-to-broken ratio and origin; send the crop, broken limit 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.