Gum Arabic is an important component used in everything from Coca-Cola to M&M sweets, smuggling from rebel-accepted areas of war-torn Sudan, traders and industry sources say that western companies’ struggle complicates their efforts to insulating their supply chain.
Sudan produces about 80% of the world’s gum arabic, a natural substance cut from acacia trees that are widely used to mix, stabilize and thicken mass-market products including lorial lipstick and Nestle petfood.
Since April 2023 with Sudan’s National Army, the paramilitary rapid support force (RSF), Cordophon in Western Sudan and the main gum-cutting areas of Darfur had seized control at the end of the previous year.
Since then raw products, which can only be marketed by Sudani traders in exchange for RSF fees, according to interaction with eight producers and buyers, who are directly involved in gum Arabic trade or are based in Sudan, are making their way to Sudan’s neighbors.
Gum is also exported through informal border markets, two traders told Reuters.
When asked for the comment, an RSF representative said that the force had protected the Arabic trade and collected only small fees, saying that any law was campaigned against the paramilitary group.
Last month, RSF signed a charter with affiliated groups, establishing a parallel government in parts of Sudan.
In recent months, in countries with less gum Arabic production than Sudan, such as Chad and Senegal, or barely exported before the war like Egypt and South Sudan, have started offering an object at an aggressively cheap prices and this is a struggle-free, contacted by two buyers who have been contacted by traders, told the routes.
While acacia trees that produce gum Arabic, grow in the dry Sahel region of Africa – known as ‘Gum Belt’ – Sudan has become the world’s largest exporter due to its broad trees.
Suppliers of special food items of the Singapore-based supplier’s global marketing specialist Herway canvet Eco-AGRI, said that it was often difficult to determine where the supply of gum was coming from because many traders have not said whether their products have been smuggled.
“Today, sorrow in Sudan, I would say that all this is smuggling, because there is no real right in the country,” he said.
The Association for International Promotion of Gums (AIPG), an industry lobby, said in a public statement of January 27, “This” does not see any evidence of the link between the supply chain and the competition (Sudani) forces. ,
However, five industry sources said that the opaque new business in gum took the risk of infiltrating the procurement system of global material manufacturers. Companies such as Nexira, Oland and Robert, and Civenian buy a sophisticated version of Amber-Rung’s gum, turn it into emulsifiers and sell it to big consumer goods firms.
Contacted by Reuters, Involution said that it works to ensure that all supply chain transactions are perfectly valid and have been included in other countries such as Cameroon since the onset of the war.
Nexira stated that Reuters inspired the Civil War to cut their imports from Sudan and take active measures to reduce the impact of the struggle on their supply chain, including ten other countries to broaden sources.
Alland and Robert, Nestle and Coca -Cola did not comment. M&MS manufacturers Mars and L’Oreal did not return the request for comments.
Cheap glue for sale
Before the war, the service of global material manufacturers, Mohammad Hussain Sorge, the founder of Khartum-based unity Arabic Gum, said he was offered Gum Arabic in December by traders in Senegal and Chad.
He said that Chad-based traders wanted $ 3,500 per tonne for Hasab Gum, which is mainly a more expensive variety of gum Arabic produced in Sudan, for which he would usually expect to pay more than $ 5,000 per ton.
The sellers cannot provide a sedex certification, which ensures that the buyer meets a supplier a durable and moral standards, Sorez also explained the Reuters.
Sorge did not buy gum because he feared a low price and a lack of documentation was an indication that it was stolen in Sudan or exported through informal RSF-Sambhdh network.
“The smugglers manage the smuggling of gum Arabic through RSF as RSF controls all production areas,” Sorge said.
After the RSF forces, Sorge, who escaped Egypt after his full gum supply in 2023, shared the WhatsApp messages, shown to these gum traders with Reuters, with recently reached five different occasions as January 9.
Since October, RSF banned exports to Egypt for 12 goods, including gum Arabic, which was said that it was Egyptian air attacks against militia.
When asked for the comment, the paramilitary said that it banned that it is called smuggling in Egypt as it was not benefiting Sudan.
A buyer, who refused to be nominated for security reasons, said how he was also contacted by shady gum traders.
“Me (Acacia) Seyal has cleaned the open volume ready for shipping,” read a WhatsApp message, reviewed by Reuters and offered Seyal Gum, a cheap gum an Arabic variety load.
In later WhatsApp messages, the businessman proposed shipping shipping every two months, which at a negligent price of $ 1,950 per metric ton, the buyer less than $ 3,000 per tonne said he would expect to pay for such load.
In a separate WhatsApp conversation with the same buyer, reviewed by Reuters, a separate businessman said that trucks carrying gum Arabic had crossed the boundary of Sudan to South Sudan and Egypt.
In all examples, the gum traders could not provide a sedex certification, said the buyer said, he said that he rejected the proposals for fear that Gum came from the RSF-Sambadh network.
Changing path
Before the Sudani Civil War, the raw gum will be sorted into Khartum and then to be sent through the Suez Canal worldwide, the truck will be truck for port Sudan on the Red Sea.
From the end of last year, however, according to a buyer located in the RSF-controlled area, the RSF-Buddhist gum appeared on sale in two informal markets between Arabic West Coordophen and Sudani province of South Sudan, which was denied to be nominated due to security concerns.
A prominent trader buyer from the West Cordophen region stated that traders gathered gum from Sudani land owners and sold them to South Sudani traders in US dollars in these markets.
All this happens with RSF protection, for which traders pay, the buyer said.
Abdulla Mohammed, a manufacturer of Acacher’s groves in West Cordophen, also said that RSF charged RSF for protection from traders. The paramilitary group has diversified their interests in gold, livestock, agriculture and banking.
South Sudan Information Minister Michael Makui, who is also a government spokesperson, said that the reater transport of gum through South Sudan was not the responsibility of the government. Calls and messages to South Sudan, Minister of Trade and Industry Joseph Moum Majak, became unanswered.
The RSF also takes the product through the Um Daffog’s border city in the Central African Republic, the buyer said, some goes to Chad.
A wholesale buyer located outside Sudan said that the Reuters were now being exported via Mombasa in Kenya and South Sudan’s capital Juba.
Arabic gum of illegal origin has also appeared on online sale. Its Siddig, a Sudani Gum processor, now a refugee in Britain, said that Reuters raided their warehouses in Khartum by RSF, when he ran away with three suitcases of gum in TO in April 2023.
A year later, his gum products appeared on sale, still in his company’s branded packaging, an online Facebook group shared with a screenshot according to a screenshot.
(Except for the headline, the story has not been edited by NDTV employees and is published by a syndicated feed.)
