Pectin and xanthan price rise at CP Kelco

Price increases are: 6 per cent for pectin, 5 per cent for xanthan and xanthan blends, and rises ranging from 6 per cent to 10 per cent for selected carrageenan products.

Due to rising energy and processing materials costs 'we are facing double digit increases in what we spend' said Bruce Dructor, CP Kelco's vice president, operations and business management.

Global industries have seen their margins squeezed in recent months due to high energy and commodity prices that saw crude oil reach record prices of over $50 a barrel.

But relief could be in sight as oil stocks swell and producers keep up supplies, the Paris-based International Energy Agency said in its monthly report on Wednesday.

The report could bring oil prices down. The Financial Times​ reported this week that the agency summoned evidence on "both supply and demand sides of the market to argue that the recent easing in oil prices is not a respite but a turnaround that should last through the winter and beyond."

CP Kelco, a supplier of stabilisers, thickeners and gelling agents used in a broad range of food products, said in a statement this week that 'efforts to improve production efficiency and boost capacity' had partially offset the additional costs.

The price hikes are effective from 15 December this year, with currently contracted business adjusted as individual contracts reach full term.

In August 2003 the firm announced increases in price for its Keltrol food grade product of up to 10 per cent.

Last month family-owned US firm JM Huber acquired CP Kelco purchase. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but industry observers pitched the acquisition, which takes the New Jersey-based company deeper into additives and thickeners, in the region of $1 billion (€0.8bn).