This article has been revised slightly from an article in the June 2009 edition of Medicinal Plants and Extracts Market News Service,1 a quarterly bulletin of the International Trade Centre (ITC). Revised and reprinted courtesy of Josef Brinckmann, editor.
A non-exhaustive analysis of export trade data from the United States in 2008 shows that exports of botanical raw materials, and their extractives and oils, exceeded USD $1.4 billion in terms of reported customs value. The corresponding exported quantity was 224,401.8 metric tons (MT) (See Table 1, below). This analysis attempts to capture the majority of botanical ingredients that are used as components of cosmetic products, dietary supplement products, herbal medicinal products (including over-the-counter [OTC] and prescription drug products), natural health products, and/or natural food and beverage products. However, there are certainly other botanical ingredients not included in this analysis, which would bring the total somewhat higher.*
Some caution must be exercised when evaluating this data because many botanicals are utilized in a wide range of finished product types and thus not all end uses for each botanical substance are medicinal or therapeutic. For example, some essential oils are used as active pharmaceutical ingredients in pharmacy drug products, but they may also be used as flavor and fragrance ingredients in conventional foods and/or cosmetic products, respectively. And while hop strobile (Humulus lupulus) (a major US export) is used as an active ingredient in dietary supplement products and of herbal medicinal products, most of the US hops exports are used for the manufacture of alcoholic beverages (beer).
In terms of US export volume, the top 10 botanical categories represented 71.8% of the total 224,401.8 MT. These were as follows:
(1) essential oils (15.0% of total or 33,704.7 MT) (2) flax seed (Linum usitatissimum) (13.7% / 30,755.3 MT)
(3) flax seed oil (13.0% / 29,226.4 MT)
(4) cocoa butter (from Theobroma cacao) (7.5% / 16,829.0 MT)
(5) tea leaf (Camellia sinensis) or yerba maté (Ilex paraguariensis) extracts (4.8% / 10,849.9 MT)
(6) hop strobile (4.1% / 9,275.0 MT)
(7) “other” medicinal plants (3.7% / 8,233.7 MT)
(8) natural gums, resins, and oleoresins (balsams) (3.6% / 8,038.9 MT)
(9) “other” spices (3.3% / 7,387.5 MT)
(10) “other” herbal extracts and vegetable saps (3.1% / 6,937.7 MT).
In terms of reported export value, the top 10 botanical categories represented 78.9% of the total USD $1,415,474,991. These were as follows:
(1) essential oils (29.7% of total or $419,709,578)
(2) hop strobile extract (11.0% / $155,773,143)
(3) herbal teas comprising mixed herbs (6.4% / $90,638,030)
(4) tea leaf or maté leaf extracts or concentrates (6.0% / $85,473,896)
(5) “other” herbal extracts and vegetable saps (5.4% / $76,306,970)
(6) cocoa butter (5.3% / $74,477,033)
(7) hop strobile (5.2% / $73,350,551)
(8) “other” medicinal plants (3.3% / 47,332,310)
(9) tea leaf or maté leaf instant form (3.3% / $46,611,054)
(10) licorice root (Glycyrrhiza glabra, G. uralensis) extract (3.3% / $45,786,399).
Categories starting with “other” are catch-all general groupings that may include hundreds of species lumped together because each does not have its own specific harmonized system tariff code (HS Code). Thus, it is not possible to report import / export trade data on a species-specific basis in all cases. These are captured in general “other” line items. For example, “other” medicinal plants (HS 12119091) would include many important US exports such as black cohosh root and rhizome (Actaea racemosa), bloodroot root (Sanguinaria canadensis), cascara sagrada bark (Frangula purshiana), echinacea herb and root (Echinacea spp.), goldenseal rhizome (Hydrastis canadensis), kava-kava rhizome (Piper methysticum), slippery elm bark (Ulmus rubra), and witch hazel bark and leaf (Hamamelis virginiana), among others. The Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), however, does have specific HS Codes assigned for a few medicinal plants in Chapter 1211, including wild American ginseng root (Panax quinquefolius), coca leaf (Erythroxylum coca), mint leaf (Mentha spp.), and poppy straw (Papaver somniferum), among others. (Please note that many of the listed exports are produced from plants not grown in the United States, such as coca, maté, poppy, and tea, among others. These raw materials are imported into the United States for processing and then are distributed in value-added forms for domestic use or are exported to other countries.)
Medicinal Plants of HS 1211
In Table 1, certain 10-digit HS Codes of HS Chapter 1211 are shown separately for more specificity. When combining the totals for all of these HS 1211 line items, the 2008 US export volume for this category of medicinal plants becomes 10,905.7 MT with a reported value of $79,393,711.
In terms of volume, the top 5 destinations for US medicinal plant (HS 1211) exports were as follows:
(1) Canada (30.1% of total or 3,285.1 MT)
(2) Germany (17.4% / 1,897.2 MT)
(3) Netherlands (6.9% / 753.4 MT)
(4) Italy (5.7% / 621.0 MT)
(5) France (4.6% / 503.0 MT).
These 5 importers represented 64.7% of total US exports in this category.
In terms of value, the top 5 destinations for US medicinal plants (HS 1211) exports were:
(1) Canada (26.4% of total or $20,978,345)
(2) Hong Kong SAR of the PRC (13.8% / $10,936,314)
(3) Germany (9.9% / $7,908,918)
(4) People’s Republic of China (8.2% / $6,520,709)
(5) Italy (5.4% / $4,263,414).
These 5 importers (2 of them China) represented 63.7% of total export value for this category. In consideration of both export volume and value, Canada ranked as the #1 destination for US exports of HS 1211 medicinal plants.
Herbal Extracts & Saps of HS 1302 (130211, 130212, 130213, 130214, and 130219)
In the table, certain 8- and 10-digit codes of HS Chapter 1302 are shown separately for more specificity. When combining the totals for all HS 1302 line items, the 2008 U.S. export volume for herbal extracts becomes 17,893.8 MT with a reported value of $278,957,474. Thus, in terms of value, herbal extracts (HS 1302) becomes the second-highest value export category following essential oils.
In terms of volume, the top 10 destinations for US herbal extracts (HS 1302) exports were as follows:
(1) Germany (14.1% of total or 2,517.9 MT)
(2) Japan (9.4% / 1,683.8 MT)
(3) People’s Republic of China (6.4% / 1,143.6 MT)
(4) Canada (5.7% / 1,027.1 MT)
(5) United Kingdom (4.8% / 855.3 MT)
(6) Thailand (4.6% / 826.6 MT)
(7) Mexico (4.5% / 801.1 MT)
(8) Dominican Republic (4.3% / 764.0 MT)
(9) Netherlands (4.2% / 758.3 MT)
(10) Brazil (3.5% / 633.2 MT)
These 10 importers represented 61.5% of total US exports of HS 1302 herbal extracts.
In terms of value, the top 10 destinations for US herbal extracts (HS 1302) exports were as follows:
(1) Germany (13.1% of total or $36,611,177)
(2) Canada (7.0% / $19,609,482)
(3) United Kingdom (6.1% / $16,968,277)
(4) Mexico (5.7% / $15,773,583)
(5) People’s Republic of China (5.4% / $14,932,857)
(6) Belgium & Luxembourg (4.5% / $12,540,816)
(7) South Korea (3.9% / $10,982,704)
(8) Japan (3.6% / $10,145,105)
(9) Brazil (3.4% / $9,475,878)
(10) Netherlands (3.1% / $8,630,122)
These 10 importers represented 55.8% of total US exports of HS 1302 herbal extracts. In consideration of both exported volume and value, Germany ranked as the #1 destination for US exports of HS 1302 herbal extracts and saps.
Table 1: 2008 Volumes (MT) and Values (USD) of selected Botanical Ingredients exported from USA
Source: US Department of Commerce, US Census Bureau, Foreign Trade Statistics
—Josef Brinckmann
* This analysis focused on botanical materials from certain chapters of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States. Some botanical ingredients, such as mangosteen (Garcinia mangostana) fruit (classified in HS Chapter 8) and extracts of eucalyptus (Eucalyptus globulus) leaf (found in HS Chapter 32), were not included in the gathered export data because they are found in chapters not analyzed for this paper.
Reference
1. Brinckmann J. U.S. 2008 exports of botanical natural ingredients tops 1.4 billion USD. Medicinal Plants & Extracts Market News Service. June 2009;31:41-43.
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