The conflict in Sudan has disrupted the supply of a little-known but crucial ingredient in soft drinks, chocolate bars and many other products, sparking concerns over shortages later in the year.
Sudan’s eruption into conflict has left international consumer goods makers racing to shore up supplies of gum arabic, one of the country’s most sought-after products.
The Sudanese states that produce gum are North, South and West Darfur, North and South Kordofan, Unity and Upper Nile states, Sennar, White Nile and Gedaref state. Hashab and Talha forests represent a quarter of the country, and gum is a source of livelihood for about 10 million Sudanese.
The tasteless and odorless dried sap is often used as a stabilizer, thickening agent and emulsifier. Tiny amounts of it are added to some of the world’s most popular consumer products, such as soft drink companies, as well as cosmetics and many pharmaceutical products.
The fighting that erupted in Sudan on April 15 has frozen trade of raw gum arabic both within Sudan and across its borders, traders say. Immediate supply isnt in danger, and companies that depend on the product usually keep large stockpiles outside Sudan, but traders say prices for the substance have already shot up, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) said.
“The concern is if we run out of gum, then we run out of business,” WSJ quoted a general manager at a UK raw-gum importer and processor as saying. “We luckily have stocks in the UK so we’ll keep running, but if war continues for a year, that will be an issue.” Owner of a company in the United States of America which imports and sells Sudanese gum arabic, said the cultivation and harvest of the substance, which mostly happens in rural areas, hasn’t been affected by the clashes so far.
But, he said, the fighting in Khartoum, fuel shortages and the broader lawlessness unleashed by the conflict have made it virtually impossible to move raw gum arabic inside Sudan or export it to another country.
“I currently have a shipment in Khartoum in a location that is basically a hornet’s nest,” he said, who himself is currently stuck in the capital. “It’s ready to ship minus some paperwork from the central bank and I am not leaving until I have complete possession of this shipment, or at least it’s stored or shipped to Port Sudan or in a more secure location.” The journal indicated that the Global trade in gum arabic was valued at around $363 million in 2021, according to the Observatory of Economic Complexity, an online data platform. The US imported some 20,445 metric tons of the substance in 2021, valued at around $66 million, according to the World Bank.
Big end users of gum arabic, including beverage makers and confectionery producers, usually have around six to 12 months of stock on hand, a partner at Dutch company which imports and processes Sudanese gum arabic said.
A spokeswoman for a company, which uses gum arabic as a coating and binding agent in chocolate and other products, said the company hasn’t experienced any issues with its gum arabic supply and has contingencies in place if bottlenecks were to emerge.
Source: Qatar News Agency
