A sugar rush among Chinese artificial sweetener makers is hitting a new high as a member of the group gears up for an IPO in Hong Kong. But the building trade war between China and the U.S. is adding a sour note to that plan.
Newtrend Technology Co., one of China’s biggest makers of popular sugar substitutes including glycine and sucralose, received a greenlight from China’s securities regulator last week for its plan to list in Hong Kong, joining half a dozen other Chinese sweetener makers already trading publicly.
Unlike many of its Chinese peers, the company appears to be suffering less from industrial overcapacity at home, a common problem in many Chinese industries. Instead, Newtrend has avoided that by focusing on global clients – predominantly in the U.S. and Europe – which it serves through manufacturing sites in Thailand and Indonesia.