Vitamin C Values likely to Fall in China Post Covid Shutdown: Here’s why

China is still amid a COVID crisis, more than two years after a fatal coronavirus strain was discovered in the central city of Wuhan. Shanghai, one of China's major cities, has been shut down for the past month, with many of its citizens trapped behind hastily erected metal gates. Beijing, the capital, is currently attempting to avoid a repeat of the situation.

The fascinating story of China's continuous, and increasingly urgent, fight against COVID-19 blends arrogance at its own early public health triumphs with a failure to adequately vaccinate the bulk of its population. The difficulty of questioning a nonsensical "zero-COVID" plan so intimately identified with China's top leader, Xi Jinping, makes addressing China's COVID conundrum and finding a way out of the pandemic more difficult. As the number of instances rises, Beijing and Tianjin continue to tighten Covid restrictions, while Shanghai appears to be reopening in fits and turns, with most people still unable to travel freely.

Since March, when the highly contagious omicron variant of COVID emerged, China imposed increasingly strict pandemic controls, including in some cases sudden lockdowns that have imposed significant costs on the local population and economy. China's society and economy have been altered by rapid advances in manufacturing capacity and expanding consumer consumption as it is a major producer of industrial and consumer goods around the world. China is the world's fastest expanding market for Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs), far surpassing other economies.

People had more time for self-care and beauty treatments as the lockdown engulfed an entire nation in the summer of 2020, which sparked a worldwide demand for Vitamin-C. For "healthy complexion" and "tackling skin concerns," this product emerged as the most searched ingredient in 2020. Vitamin C is important for maintaining strong collagen, which protects the skin's young characteristics and reverses free radical damage, according to specialists. It keeps the skin healthy by retaining suppleness and providing anti-aging properties. It's one of the most potent topical antioxidants, stimulating the formation of collagen and elastin to aid the skin's natural regeneration process. The demand for Vitamin C rose exponentially in China especially amongst the youth which somehow increased its values in the domestic market. but, due to the restrictions and lockdowns imposed by the Chinese authorities, Manufactures were forced to shut their plants, due to which the demand also declined across the country.

Post Covid-lockdowns, many elements could contribute to a hypothetical Vitamin C price decline in the Chinese market, including the presence of sufficient stockpiles to meet local demand for an extended period of time, decreased demand, and the RMB/USD exchange rate. The port of Shanghai remains closed owing to the covid crisis, which is also contributing the decreased offshore demand, but it is expected to reopen in May end, along with other ports such as Qingdao, Tianjin, Dalian, and others.