Unrefined Grade A shea butter for cosmetics in the United States

Why the United States buys Nigerian shea butter

The United States does not grow shea. Every drum of cosmetic or food-grade shea butter that a New Jersey filler, an Ohio formulator or a Texas distributor specifies is a West African fat — usually Nigerian — not a domestic oilseed. EMI Agro presses unrefined Grade A and refined N-RBD in Ibadan from wild-collected nuts gathered with 5,000+ women collectors in Kwara, Niger, Kaduna, Kogi, and loads at Apapa (Lagos) and Tin Can Island (Lagos) for New York/Newark, Savannah, Los Angeles or Houston.

US buyers treat shea as a specified vegetable fat, not a retail jar. The purchase order should name the grade, a NIS 571:2013 COA (free fatty acid, peroxide value, moisture, color, melting point) and the discharge port. FDA filings — MoCRA facility questions for finished cosmetics, Prior Notice and FSVP for food-use drums — sit with the United States importer. They do not replace the batch COA EMI Agro issues.

East and Gulf Coast boxes typically land at New York/Newark, Savannah or Houston (about 20–32 ocean days from Lagos). Los Angeles is the West Coast door and is a longer typical range (about 35–50 days). Chicago, Cleveland, Ohio and Atlanta take rail or truck from those coasts — there is no Great Lakes shea service. EMI Agro does not operate a US warehouse.

HTSUS 1515.90.21.00 (nut oils) is the line CBP ruling N362222 classifies for shea butter, Column 1 Free. Confirm the ten-digit statistical number on the entry date. EMI Agro does not compute landed duty or file the Importer Security Filing.

Unrefined Grade A for cosmetics in the United States

Unrefined Grade A is the grade most United States indie and contract-fill cosmetics plants specify when they want color, odor and the unsaponifiable fraction left in the fat. Write the target rows below into the purchase order — free fatty acid, peroxide value, moisture and color — and ask for a retained lot sample. “Cold-pressed” describes extraction, not freshness; FFA is set by kernel handling in Nigeria.

A New Jersey or Ohio filler usually starts with a 5-tonne trial, benches the lot, then steps to 20 tonnes or a container into New York/Newark or Savannah. MoCRA listing of a finished US cosmetic sits with the US responsible person. EMI Agro supplies the bulk ingredient and the batch COA; it does not file Cosmetics Direct for your finished SKU.

If you need a neutral white, odorless fat for a “clean white” cream, specify refined N-RBD instead and keep this Grade A page for the natural-positioned line. Both grades load at Lagos. Both travel with their own COA.

How to buy from EMI Agro in the United States

EMI Agro quotes EXW Ibadan, FOB Lagos or CIF New York/Newark (or another named US port). The three terms are not interchangeable prices: EXW is the butter at the factory gate; FOB adds Lagos load and export handling; CIF adds ocean freight and insurance to the named US port. Tell us which term you want.

Standard United States orders start at 20 tonnes. Trial lots start at 5 tonnes. If you need less, still send the request — we review every enquiry against current production of 40 tonnes per week of finished shea butter. Rolling shipments can be scheduled once a programme is named.

Lead time is Ibadan production plus ocean time to New York/Newark, Savannah, Los Angeles or Houston. Inland time to New York, Los Angeles, Houston, Chicago, Cleveland, Ohio and Atlanta is extra and sits with the importer unless the quote names a delivered arrangement. Use the container calculator to plan drums versus a 20 ft or 40 ft load, then confirm the fit on the quote.