Liquidity In The Hemp Market Dissipates Amid COVID-19 Pandemic, Report Says

The PanXchange monthly edition of the Hemp Benchmarks and Analysis was released this week. The firm covered various topics ranging from regional spot prices (biomass, crude oil, distillate, and isolate), to legislative updates such as changes in the USDA Interim Final Rule for hemp producers.

The paper also went into the Food and Drug Administration’s recent report on regulating CBD and what that means for the market going forward and diving into hemp seed oil as a feed ingredient.

Dissipating Liquidity

Concerning the health of the hemp market, PanXchange has seen liquidity in the market dissipate, and prices continue to decrease on a month-over-month basis.

Although this has been a recurring trend in the past few months, the firm did see prices drop at a slower rate than in February. The price of biomass per percentage point decreased by 5% across the five regional benchmarks, winterized CBD crude oil’s midpoint was down 11%. CBG crude oil continued to see massive premiums of almost ten times the value of CBD crude oil.

“The mindset of many hemp producers and processors has changed dramatically over the past twelve to eighteen months," said RJ Hopp, Director of Hemp Markets at PanXchange. "Firms across the industry are focusing on strict budgeting and mitigating potential risks, as opposed to before, where many took the view of increasing throughput to capture a piece of a booming and lucrative market.”

The FDA’s Stance

The recently published report on the FDA’s current stance, progress, and plan going forward concerning the regulation of CBD was a central topic to the publication as well.

More specifically, the FDA outlined concerns with the overall safety of CBD and the rapid pace of development of this sector of the industry will equate to more cohesive regulations from the industry in the future.

PanXchange sees that there are massive hurdles to be cleared in getting additional FDA-approved drugs on store shelves in the near term. In contrast, dietary supplements, animal drugs, and feed applications show promising potential for the industry moving forward subject to future industry regulations.

“Since the legalization of hemp in the United States, industry stakeholders have developed supply chains while anticipating transparent regulation. The report that the FDA published is a significant step for the industry in understanding where the agency stands and potential opportunities ahead. However, I believe it will take considerable time before we see consensus between industry participants, State governments, and Federal agencies,” Hopp said.  

Lead image by Ilona Szentivanyi. Copyright: Benzinga.