Vitamins

Thirteen essential micronutrients made by chemical synthesis or fermentation for feed, food and pharma; China and Europe hold over 80% of capacity.

Bio-based chemicals · Fermentation products · No. 113

• Product family
• Feedstock: Crops and biomass
• not published as a total; capacities: vitamin C about 200 kt, vitamin E about 150 kt, vitamin A not reliably published (Faxian Gongchang gives 28 kt, but its BASF figure of 14.4 kt at 26.7% implies about 54 kt); China exported 422,765 t of vitamins in 2024
• HS 2936

One fire at a single German plant in 2024 more than doubled the world price of vitamin A in two weeks.

Chart: Illustration: Vitamins

Where it comes from

Chart: Map of where it comes from

Vitamins A and E come from long chemical syntheses using citral and isophytol, vitamins C, B2 and B12 from fermenting sugar, and D3 from cholesterol in wool grease.

Three things to know

1. China makes over 85% of the world's vitamin C and over 70% of its vitamin E.
2. India supplies 40-50% of the world's vitamin B12 and 30-40% of its folic acid.
3. dsm-firmenich agreed in February 2026 to sell its animal nutrition and vitamins business to CVC for about EUR 2.2 billion.

The journey

1. 1 Raw materialsAcetone, acetylene, maize glucose or wool grease
2. 2 IntermediatesCitral and isophytol for vitamins A, E
3. 3 Synthesis or fermentationOver ten steps for A; fermentation for C
4. 4 FormulationBeadlets protect fragile vitamins from oxidation
5. 5 UseGrams per tonne of feed, milligrams per person

Go deeper pick a tab to open it in full