Global drug-free cannabinoid market trends

In economically developed countries of the world, prices for flowers grown at home are much higher (in some cases, twice) than for greenhouse plants. At the moment, the most competitive are flowers grown in the open air on an industrial scale, since their cost is lower than that of those grown at home, and the quality does not differ significantly.

On the eve of harvesting the leaves and inflorescences of therapeutic hemp, the editors of the specialized electronic edition of Ukrainian cannabis growers turned to the specialists of the information and analytical platform Hemp Consulting with a request to comment on the situation on the above market in economically developed countries. The information provided by Hemp Consulting specialists is published without any changes.

US Cannabinoid Market

Colleagues specializing in the analysis of information on the EU and US markets provided an opportunity to get acquainted with the materials prepared by them about the situation in the modern hemp market both in Europe and North America. Based on the diagrams below, the following conclusions can be drawn:

- in almost all market segments, the average price per unit of final product is decreasing due to a sharp drop in the cost of raw materials due to their significant volumes stored since the 2019 harvest;

- manufacturing companies prefer to purchase raw materials from the 2020 harvest at the lowest price, since similar raw materials from 2019 have already partially lost their therapeutic properties;

- both in the USA and in European countries, sales increased in only one sales segment - flowers with therapeutic properties (in particular, rich in cannabidiol).

 Comparative chart of changes in the average unit price of sales in Europe (Q4 2019 vs. Q1 2020) 

Examining the individual markets of the EU countries shows how great the price decline was for each individual product.

Conclusions : Given the above, it can be assumed that the volume of production of plant-based cannabidiol, as well as production rich in non-drug cannabinoids, is most likely not to increase due to the growing crisis of overproduction. Another feature of the market in economically developed countries of the world is noted - the prices for flowers grown at home are much higher (in some cases, twice) than for greenhouse plants. At the moment, the most competitive are flowers grown in the open air on an industrial scale, since their cost is lower than that of those grown at home, and the quality does not differ significantly.

Commentary of experts of the Association "Ukrainian technical hemp"

In the economically developed countries of the world, there is already a division not only into the categories of plant or synthetic cannabinoids; raw materials obtained from varieties of technical or medical hemp. It is divided into leaves and inflorescences of plants that have significant therapeutic potential and are grown industrially, individually, as well as outdoors or in greenhouses / premises. We focus on this because in our country the question is only being raised about the advisability of growing industrial varieties of technical hemp of a therapeutic orientation in individual farms and providing the opportunity to use the collected raw materials for treatment or recovery. 

Issues related to the provision of permits, as well as application algorithms and legal mechanisms for the use of the health-improving / medicinal properties of technical hemp of therapeutic orientation will become the basis for the round table “Experience in using therapeutic elements of industrial hemp as raw materials for food, cosmetic preparations, biologically active or feed additives ", Which is being prepared as part of the training of students of the" Hemp University ", which will be held in the second half of September at the National University of Bioresources and Environmental Management (NUBiP) of Ukraine. Among other things, as part of the 5th course of training, students of the "Hemp University" will be presented with the initiatives of the profile association of Ukrainian cannabis growers to amend the current legislation related to the creation of a departmental legal framework regulating the use of "green mass" of hemp plant in industrial purposes by methods excluding extraction.