Citric Acid Price and its Supply Chain Challenges

Texan Citric Acid Sample

1. The Market Background

• Citric acid is widely used across food & beverage, industrial cleaning, water treatment, and oilfield industries.

• Despite being a common product, buyers face recurring issues:

  • Price volatility due to global supply chain disruptions.

  • Limited US-based suppliers, forcing buyers to rely on imports.

  • Unreliable players who “smuggle” or offer substandard product without documentation.

  • Few dominant players who rule the market and hence create price disparity for smaller buyers and big volume buyers.

  • Many companies send queries primarily to “fish for price” rather than commit to purchase, making the market noisy and time-consuming.

  • Current tariffs and trade restrictions may reduce imports in the near future, increasing supply pressure and further highlighting the need for reliable domestic sourcing.

    
    

2. Our Struggles & Lessons Learned

• We, at Texan Minerals and Chemicals (TMC), work with manufacturers who prioritize long term relationships.

• We are in the market determined to do business the right way — investing in industry databases, sourcing tools, and lead platforms, SEO, outreach campaigns — to identify real buyers.

• TMC follows and analyze US import records regularly in understanding the complicated supply chain details like origin, buyers and sellers and volume.  This showed us where gaps exist and where buyers face supply risks.

• At times we had to buy at higher prices ourselves to ensure continuity of supply, instead of chasing cheaper but unreliable channels.

• We secured access to USP grade for even coarse citric acid applications, a grade often overlooked but crucial in certain applications (detergents, oilfield).

• We also invested in testing and quality verification to ensure customers receive material that meets their specifications.

• Particle size matters: from fine USP grades for bath bombs and soaps to coarse technical for scale removal — we learned different applications demand precise sizing.

• Many customers require 50% citric acid solutions instead of dry form, and we’ve worked with blenders and formulators to deliver these ready-to-use formats. TMC is working with qualified citric acid blenders across the nation for producing 50% liquid solution used in Oil and Gas and other industries.  We can supply tankers or in totes directly to refineries or oil wells.

• Competing with low-price but non-compliant suppliers showed us that the real demand is not just for price, but for quality, reliability, and regulatory compliance.

  
  

3. What Customers Actually Want

Through hundreds of conversations, we found that most end-users are looking for:

• Consistent product quality (meeting ASTM, USP, FCC depending on application).

• Transparency in sourcing (no gray market imports, clear traceability).

• Competitive but stable pricing, not “bait and switch.”

• Application-specific solutions:

  • Food & Beverage → fine citric, stable supply, FDA compliant.

  • Cleaning & Passivation → coarse or technical grade, cost-efficient bulk.

  • Oilfield → coarse grade for scale removal, consistent flow, iron control

  • Water Treatment → technical grade bulk, with safety documentation.

  • Finer Grade Buyers → food or technical USP citric acid, used in bath bombs, soaps, and even certain iron control applications.

    
    

4. Our Position

• Texan Minerals and Chemicals is not just traders and distributors — we act as the direct representative of the manufacturer, ensuring documentation, quality assurance, and long-term contracts.

• Unlike many competitors who lack stock or inflate prices, we take a measured, supply-chain-stable approach.

• We have invested in collective effort — warehousing, certifications, compliance, and customer service — to deliver more than just “bags of citric acid.”

• As a supplier, TMC bridges the gap between our manufacturer, who is actively seeking new buyers, and end users, who are actively searching for reliable products and steady supply.

• We emphasize supply chain and logistics, not just in the short term but as part of a long-term strategy. TMC is committed to building dependable supply chain solutions — from sourcing and blending to warehousing and delivery — that give customers stability, predictable costs, and confidence in uninterrupted supply. 

5. Our Recommendation to Buyers

• Choose suppliers who provide traceable, consistent, and application-ready citric acid.

• Avoid “too good to be true” smugglers or opportunistic sellers — they put your production at risk.

• Partner with companies that understand your application, not just the product.

• Ask not just about price, but about continuity, compliance, and service.

TMC as a dependable and a long-term SUPPLIER of Citric Acid in powder form or in solution, can meet all BUYERS requirements satisfactorily.