Herbridge,15 Nov.2010_In China herbal extract industry,almost all ingredients' prices are now rising.Lutein is no exception.Which is put down to a combination of current economic situations and climate conditions.

    The low prices for marigold in the past two years prompted famers to cultivate other profitbale products.The planting areas decreased by 50 percents this year.Additionally,unfavorable climate conditions is also a major factor.Owing to the frost ahead of schedule,the harvest time was postponed for two weeks,and the flower was picked two or three times less in Northeast China.Manufacturers may purchase raw materials in the following Feb.to Mar.in previous years,but now they can hardly buy marigold this year.Which presents challenges to unprepared companies.Some enterprises can't afford to the high cost and therefore stopped production.Others only can supply one third of previous demand.Some suppliers are waiting and seeing the marigold market and reject to offer quoted prices.

    According to herbridge.com,the global demand for lutein reached around 900 tons,especially from North America,Europe(Germany,Poland etc.),Viet Nam,South Korea and Japan.China,India and Peru are major suppliers in the world.Of which,China is the largest supplier with advantages of abundant resource,followed by Peru.India and Peru produce no more than 300 tons of lutein,and the others come from China.China can offer far less than 600 tons of lutein this year.Domestic manufacturers only can supply hundreds of lutein except for received orders.

    The demand far exceeds the supply.Lutein prices surged by 50 percents since September.It is also hard to buy Marigold extractum even at a high price level of 1.6 RMB/g.

    It is hard to say lutein is still available in next harvest season,even early 2011.Herbridge.com believed that the market will continue to fluctuate and see upward tendency.