The genus Cinnamomum

304 M.S. Madan and S. Kannan
Table 12.19 Exports of cinnamon leaf and bark oil from Sri Lanka (1987–96)
Country 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996
Bark oil
France 0.6 0.6 0.7 0.2 1.1 1.1 – 0.99 0.99 5.7
US 0.1 0.4 0.4 0.1 0.5 0.4 – 0.63 1.12 4.19
Italy 0.4 0.3 0.4 0.1 0.2 0.3 – 0.53 0.5 0.21
UK 0.5 0.4 0.2 – 0.3 0.2 – 0.36 0.22 1.32
Netherlands, the 0.5 0.2 0.3 0.1 0.3 0.1 – – – –
Germany 0.2 0.4 0.2 0.1 0.2 0.2 – 0.37 0.39 2.7
Switzerland 0.2 0.4 0.2 – – 0.2 – – – –
Total 2.7 2.7 2.6 0.7 2.8 2.8 – 2.95 3.32 7.55
Leaf oil
US 38 54 78 13 46 54 – 96.96 125.88 33.61
UK 29 19 18 2 9 11 – 20.8 24.59 17.56
France 19 21 24 8 9 8 – 13.98 13.63 7.6
Hong Kong 11 13 16 14 17 20 – 11.94 10.59 3.5
India 8 5 7 1 2 5 – – – –
Spain 5 4 6 4 6 3 – 6.6 9.3 2.4
Switzerland 5 3 5 1 5 7 – – – –
Germany 5 2 3 – 3 5 – 1.2 1.0 2.0
Total 133 132 162 46 107 119 – 151.4 184.9 66.67
Source: Ministry of Commerce, Government of Sri Lanka.
Note
Qty in tonnes.
141 t during 1987–96, except in the years 1990 and 1996 when the supply
was exceptionally low. The US and EU are the largest markets for cinnamon leaf
oil. Imports into the UK and France have gone down drastically during the past
decade.
World demand
Estimation of world demand for cassia oil is difficult because export data are not available
from other producing countries such as China, Madagascar, etc. Added to this
problem, the oil is not separately specified in world import statistics except in the US
and Japan.
The levels of imports of cassia oil into the US are shown in Table 12.20 for the
period 1996–99. Imports into the US have risen in recent years due to the soft drinks
market that shows no sign of weakening. Imports from Japan and Hong Kong are
almost entirely re-exports of Chinese oil. The Japanese import of cassia oil has
averaged 60 t pa during 1988–93, virtually all of it coming directly from the People’s
Republic of China. A significant proportion of the imports are re-exported (FAO,
1995).