cysteine hydrochloride

Drug ingredient

CAS 52-89-1

This drug ingredient has classified U.S. production volumes. EPA withholds the number as confidential business information.

US productionCBI

Confidential Business Information. The EPA withholds this volume because publishing it could reveal the reporting company's trade secrets.

Import value, 2024$760M

Top sourceChina 33%

At least one company claimed its 2023 production or import volume for this chemical as confidential, so EPA withholds it.

Why supply is unknown

Production is reported production, not a complete census of factories. US production volume is confidential. Production reporting year: 2023. Import value and source-country shares describe a shared customs category, not a separate chemical measurement.

Where It Comes From

Customs basis: HS 293090 · basket

EPA reports by year

2023: US production Confidential · Imports Confidential

These shares come from HS customs code 293090, which covers 418 tracked chemicals in total. They estimate the category's origin mix, not this chemical specifically.

Source Countries

Country of origin for US imports, from Census customs data (2024).

CN 33%ChinaES 14%SpainCH 9%SwitzerlandIT 7%ItalyIN 7%India

Israel
Croatia
Ukraine
Slovakia
United Arab Emirates
Ireland
Poland
Lithuania
Brazil
Singapore
Australia
Armenia
Hong Kong
Vietnam
Czech Republic
Hungary
Greece
Russia

EPA-registered importers (4)

Companies that report making or importing this chemical to the EPA. Registration is US-centric and does not indicate import origin.

Clariant International · CH Switzerland

Brenntag Northeast

Clariant

International Flavors And Fragrances

7 FDA-registered drug labelers

Ajinomoto Co., Inc.

B. Braun Medical Inc.

Baxter Healthcare Company

Baxter Healthcare Corporation

Exela Pharma Sciences, LLC

KYOWA HAKKO BIO CO., LTD.

Willow Birch Pharma, LLC

Why It Matters

Sectors

HealthFoodMetals & MiningCore Chemicals

Downstream Uses

Appears in 4 drug and cosmetic product listings (FDA).

•Elcys
•TrophAmine
•Cysteine Hydrochloride
•Premasol - sulfite-free (Amino Acid)

FDA Shortage Status

Whether any manufacturer currently reports this drug as in shortage on the FDA Drug Shortages database. "Active Shortage" means at least one presentation has status "current."

No FDA shortage records

Industrial Uses

Used in 2 sectors as 2 functional roles.

•Fragrance in All Other Chemical Product and Preparation Manufacturing (100%)Processing—incorporation into formulation, mixture, or reaction product
•Flotation agent in Mining (except Oil and Gas) and support activities (100%)Use—non-incorporative activities
•Flotation agent in All Other Chemical Product and Preparation Manufacturing (100%)Processing—incorporation into formulation, mixture, or reaction product

Vendor Pricing

$0.60/gAaron Chemicals LLC

CountryHong Kong

Pack$298.00 / 500 g

Purity95%

Vendors6 available

Prices reflect listed pack sizes. Small research packs run far above bulk rates.

5 more vendors

Vendor	Country	$/g	Pack	Purity
A2B Chem LLC	United States	$0.60	100 g	97%
AA BLOCKS	United States	$0.64	500 g	97%
Angene Chemical	China → Hong Kong	$0.64	500 g	95%
Angene International Limited	United States	$1.65	100 g	98%
Angene	China → Hong Kong	$4266.67	30 mg	95%

Chemical Identity

CAS52-89-1

PubChem CID60960

DTXSIDDTXSID0020367

FormulaC3H8ClNO2S

Mol. Weight157.62 g/mol

SMILESC(C(C(=O)O)N)S.Cl

Data Sources

PubChem · compound 60960Retrieved 2026-04-07
EPA Chemical Data ReportingReporting year: 2023 · Retrieved 2026-10-04
FDA National Drug Code directoryRetrieved 2026-04-07
US Census international tradeReporting year: 2024 · Retrieved 2026-10-04

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Brief citations

cysteine hydrochloride (CAS 52-89-1) https://chemicalindependence.com/chemical/52-89-1/ PubChem: 60960. Retrieved 2026-04-07. https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/60960 EPA Chemical Data Reporting: 52-89-1. Reporting year: 2023. https://www.epa.gov/chemical-data-reporting FDA National Drug Code directory: bulk match. Retrieved 2026-04-07. https://open.fda.gov/data/ndc/ US Census international trade: HS 293090 for CAS 52-89-1. Reporting year: 2024. https://usatrade.census.gov/