UNITED NATIONS CONFERENCE ON TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT COMMODITIES AT A GLANCE Special issue on gum arabic No. 8 Photo courtesy of ALLAND & ROBERT Photo courtesy of ALLAND & ROBERT Photo courtesy of UNITED NATIONS CONFERENCE ON TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT COMMODITIES AT A GLANCE Special issue on gum arabic No. 8 Photo courtesy of ALLAND & ROBERT Photo courtesy of New York and Geneva, 2018 © 2018, United Nations This work is available through open access by complying with the Creative Commons licence created for intergovernmental organizations, available at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo/. The designations employed and the presentation of material on any map in this work do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the United Nations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. Photocopies and reproductions of excerpts are allowed with proper credits. This publication has not been formally edited. United Nations publication issued by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. UNCTAD/SUC/2017/4 eISBN 978-92-1-363264-2 ISSN 2522-7866 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The series Commodities at a Glance aims to collect, present and disseminate accurate and relevant statistical information linked to international primary commodity markets in a clear, concise and reader-friendly format. This edition of Commodities at a Glance was prepared by Mario Jales, Economic Affairs Officer at the Commodi- ties Branch, Division on International Trade and Commodities, UNCTAD, under the overall guidance of Janvier Nkurunziza, Chief, Commodity Research and Analysis Section,Commodities Branch. The cover of this publication was created by Magali Studer, UNCTAD. For cover page and chapters I, III, IV and VI: photo courtesy of Alland & Robert. For chapters II and V: photo credit © Fotolia. For further information about this publication, please contact the Special Unit on Commodities, UNCTAD, Palais des Nations, CH-1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland, tel. 41 22 917 5766/6286, email: [email protected]. iv COMMODITIES AT A GLANCE - Special issue on gum arabic NOTES Reference to “dollars”, or use of the dollar symbol ($), signifies United States dollars, unless otherwise specified. The term “tons” refers to metric tons. Unless otherwise stated, all prices in this report are in nominal terms. Data sources are indicated under each table and figure. Reference to “official sources” denotes the following sources: Administración Federal de Ingresos Públicos, Argentina; ASEAN Statistics Division; Asociación Latinoamericana de Integración; Banco Central de Costa Rica; Banco Central de Reserva de El Salvador; Banco Central del Ecuador; Banco Central del Paraguay; Census and Statistics Department, Hong Kong (China); Central Bureau of Statistics, Aruba; Central Statistical Bureau, Latvia; Central Statistical Office, Trinidad and Tobago; Central Statistical Office of Poland; Department of Customs, Nepal; Department of Revenue and Customs, Bhutan; Department of Statistics, Jordan; Dirección General de Aduanas, Costa Rica; Direction générale des douanes, France; Eurostat, European Union; Federal Competitiveness and Statistics Authority, United Arab Emirates; General Authority of Statistics, Saudi Arabia; Ghana Statistical Service; Hungarian Central Statistical Office; Institut national de la statistique et de la démographie, Burkina Faso; Instituto Nacional de Estadística, Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela; Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censo, Panama; Lebanese Customs Administration; Lesotho Bureau of Statistics; Ministry of Development, Planning and Statistics, Qatar; Ministry of Industry, Foreign Trade and Services, Brazil; National Bureau of Statistics, Seychelles; National Institute of Statistics, Cabo Verde; National Institute of Statistics, Romania; National Statistical Committee of the Republic of Belarus; National Statistical Institute, Bulgaria; National Statistical Service of the Republic of Armenia; National Statistics Office of the Republic of Georgia; Oficina Nacional de Estadística, Dominican Republic; Pakistan Bureau of Statistics; Philippine Statistics Authority; Regional Statistics Programme, Caribbean Community Secretariat; Secretaría de Estado de Comercio, Spain; Secretaría de Integración Económica Centroamericana; Southern African Customs Union; State Statistical Committee of the Republic of Azerbaijan; Statistics and Census Service, Macao (China); Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia; Statistics Canada; Statistics Lithuania; Stats NZ Tatauranga Aotearoa, New Zealand; Swiss Federal Customs Administration; United States International Trade Commission; Vanuatu National Statistics Office; and Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency. ACRONYMS v ACRONYMS AAGR average annual growth rate ASI Achats Service International (Niger) CAS cleaned amber and sifted CEXPRO Compagnie Commerciale pour l’Exportation des Produits (Cameroon) CFA Financial Cooperation in Central Africa CFAF CFA franc CIF cost, insurance and freight CNI Colloïdes Naturels International (France) DFQF duty free and quota free EUV export unit value FAO Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations FNC Forests National Corporation (Sudan) FOB free on board GAC Gum Arabic Company (Sudan) GAU Gum Arabic Union (Sudan) GEF Global Environmental Fund HPS handpicked select HS Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System IFAD International Fund for Agricultural Development INDC Intended Nationally Determined Contribution INS International Numbering System for Food Additives JECFA Joint FAO-WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives LDC least developed country MFN most favoured nation NAPA National Adaptation Programme of Action ROW rest of the world SDG Sudanese pound SOMIEX Société Malienne d’Importation et Exportation (Mali) SONIMEX Société Nationale d’Importation et d’Exportation (Mauritania) WHO World Health Organization vi COMMODITIES AT A GLANCE - Special issue on gum arabic CONTENTS Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................. iii Notes ............................................................................................................................... iv Acronyms ...........................................................................................................................v CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION .................................................................................. 1 A. Historical overview .............................................................................................................. 2 B. Regulatory status ................................................................................................................ 3 C. Geographical distribution and ecological characteristics ...................................................... 5 D. Biochemical structure and functions .................................................................................... 6 CHAPTER II USES ................................................................................................ 7 A. Traditional uses ................................................................................................................... 8 B. Industrial uses ..................................................................................................................... 8 CHAPTER III VALUE CHAIN .................................................................................... 13 A. Producers ........................................................................................................................... 16 B. Traders ................................................................................................................................ 18 C. Exporters ............................................................................................................................ 19 D. Processors .......................................................................................................................... 20 E. Users .................................................................................................................................. 21 F. Value addition ..................................................................................................................... 22 CHAPTER IV SUPPLY AND DEMAND ...................................................................... 27 A. Crude gum arabic exports ................................................................................................... 28 B. Crude gum arabic imports .................................................................................................. 40 C. Processed gum arabic exports ............................................................................................ 46 D. Processed gum arabic imports ............................................................................................ 51 CHAPTER V PRICES .............................................................................................. 59 CHAPTER VI CONCLUSION ..................................................................................... 63 REFERENCES................................................................................................................ 65 ANNEX ........................................................................................................................ 69 CONTENTS vii TABLES Table