AN ANALYSIS on the Philippine carrageenan industry showed that the country went from being a major raw seaweed exporter to being a net seaweed importer after the capacity for seaweed processing in the country increased during the 2000 to 2009 period.

The report, furnished by Seaweed Industry Association of the Philippines president Benson Dakay to reporters last week, was commissioned by the Food and Agriculture Organization(FAO) of the United Nations. It was commissioned to review world production and trade in tropical red seaweeds, focusing on the Philippines’ and Indonesia’s seaweed industries.

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The report also indicated that the Philippines is exporting carrageenan more than raw seaweed. Carrageenan is the gelatin-like extracts from seaweed.

Despite the increased processing capacity in the country, Dakay said that the global industry has become “so crowded” and that poaching of personnel with experience in seaweed processing is rampant.

He said that based on the experiences of his company, Shemberg Marketing Corp. (SMC), companies from Indonesia, Brazil try to poach workers.

“The seaweed processing has become very competitive, especially the processing of cottonii. It has really become a commodity already,” Dakay said.

Cottonii compose 80 percent of the exported carrageenan to world markets since it is used as an additive to various food products.

Although there is stiff competition, Dakay said Philippine carrageenan remained competitive in terms of costs since the prices are still about 50 percent less compared with other producers.

At the end of 2008, carrageenan was priced at $10 per kilo, while semi-refined variants were sold at $7 per kilo.

The present rate for carrageenan is $14 per kilo and $9 per kilo for the semi-refined ones.

However, Dakay said that the industry is also bracing for a speculated decline of the US dollar by 25 percent next year as a weak dollar will also put pressure on the prices of carrageenan.

He said that expensive carrageenan will push food makers to resort to unhealthy food additives like more meat, starch or phosphate.