Vitamins: Feedstocks
When the price sits far above what it costs to make
What this tab covers What it is made from and what it feeds: the raw materials and energy per tonne with their share of cost (linked to the commodity table), who is low-cost and why, and the chemicals made from it.Vitamins A and E are petrochemicals: citral, isophytol and trimethylhydroquinone come from acetone, isobutylene, acetylene and aromatics. Vitamin C and the fermented B vitamins come from maize glucose. Feedstock cost is small next to the value of vitamins, so competitiveness rests on mastery of long syntheses, integration into intermediates like citral and Chinese scale.
Inputs per tonne
| Input | Quantity per tonne | Role | Share of cost | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oil Crude oil | not published | building blocks for citral, isophytol and TMHQ | small share of price (indicative) | indicative |
| Mz Maize | about 1.5-2 t glucose per t vitamin C (indicative) | fermentation carbon source | large for vitamin C, small for others (indicative) | indicative |
| Wl Wool | not published | cholesterol for vitamin D3 | small | Faxian Gongchang 2026 (NF cholesterol) |
| Soy Soybeans | not published | natural vitamin E | significant for natural VE (indicative) | indicative |
Who is low-cost, and why
Integrated Chinese producers (NHU, Zhejiang Medicine) and BASF with its citral chain are lowest cost in A and E. Garden Bio's D3 costs about RMB 50/kg against quotes of RMB 200-600/kg, showing how far price can sit above cost in concentrated markets (Faxian Gongchang).
Raw materials on the commodity table
Mz MaizeOil Crude oilWhat it is made into
| Product | Note |
|---|---|
| Fd Food and feed additives | vitamins are a core feed and food additive |
| F&F Flavours and fragrances | citral and ionones are shared intermediates |