International developments in adipic acid.

2026-04-13 11:27
As of mid-April 2026, the global adipic acid market has shown multiple characteristics including policy adjustments, price fluctuations, technological transformation, and differentiated supply and demand patterns, becoming one of the concerned segments in the petrochemical industry chain. At the international trade level, the Brazilian authorities issued an announcement on March 31, 2026, initiating the second anti-dumping sunset review investigation on adipic acid originating from five countries: China, Germany, the United States, France, and Italy. The dumping investigation period of this investigation is from July 2024 to June 2025, and the injury investigation period is from July 2020 to June 2025. The involved tariff code is Mercosur 2917.12.10. During the investigation, questionnaires will be distributed, and relevant parties can apply for a hearing within 5 months. Meanwhile, the European Union has maintained an anti-dumping duty of 28.6% to 46.8% on imported adipic acid, coupled with the CBAM carbon tariff. This policy has led to a significant contraction in the export volume of adipic acid produced by traditional processes to the EU, while products with low-carbon and green certifications have shown stronger export competitiveness. In February 2026, the monthly export volume of adipic acid and its salts and esters from China dropped by more than 30% year-on-year, mainly due to weak international demand, intensified regional market competition, and increased trade barriers in some countries and regions.
In terms of prices, from the first quarter to the beginning of the second quarter of 2026, the global adipic acid price showed a rapid upward trend, driven by factors such as rising prices of raw materials such as benzene and cyclohexanone, geopolitical risk premiums, and global supply chain disruptions. Among them, the price in the U.S. market rose by 2.13% month-on-month in a single week in early April, the global market has generally increased by around 100 euros per ton since the beginning of 2026, and the price in the Asian market rose by 26% in March alone, hitting a new high for the year. The cost pressure mainly comes from the impact of the geopolitical conflict in the Middle East on shipping through the Strait of Hormuz and the supply of aromatics, coupled with the overall upward prices of the crude oil, naphtha, and benzene industrial chains, as well as the increase in carbon emission costs brought about by stricter global environmental governance, which together have driven up adipic acid prices.
Green technology and low-carbon transformation have become the core development trends of the global adipic acid industry, and the industrialization process of bio-based and green adipic acid is accelerating. At present, the mainstream global routes for bio-based adipic acid include sugar-based fermentation, electrochemical synthesis, and nitric acid-free processes, which have entered the 10,000-ton scale demonstration and verification stage. Although the current cost of bio-based adipic acid is 40% to 70% higher than that of petroleum-based products, driven by the implementation of carbon tariff policies, the promotion of low-carbon certifications, and the demand in high-end nylon, automotive, apparel and other fields, its market demand is growing rapidly. According to international institutional forecasts, the global production capacity of bio-based adipic acid will reach the 10,000-ton level in 2026, and will enter a period of rapid expansion after 2027. At the same time, the cleaner upgrading of traditional adipic acid production processes is also continuing. Due to its advantages of high atomic economy, low hydrogen consumption, and few by-products, the cyclohexene process has accounted for more than 60% of the market. The overall N₂O emissions of the industry have decreased by more than 30% compared with 2020. In addition, many countries have included adipic acid in mandatory control scopes such as carbon quotas, LDAR leak detection, and ultra-low emissions, promoting the industry's transformation towards green and low-carbon development.
From the perspective of the global market and demand pattern, the global adipic acid market size is expected to be between 6 billion and 7.9 billion US dollars in 2026 (there are differences due to different institutional statistical calibers), and the compound annual growth rate from 2026 to 2034 is expected to be 4.4% to 5.6%. Among them, the Asia-Pacific region accounts for more than 60% of the global market share, becoming the core production and sales area of global adipic acid. On the demand side, nylon 66 remains the largest demand driver for adipic acid, widely used in automotive lightweighting, electronic appliances, high-end spinning and other fields; the demand in fields such as polyurethane, plasticizers, and synthetic lubricants maintains steady growth; the capacity expansion of degradable plastic PBAT has also brought new demand growth to the adipic acid market. On the supply side, the global adipic acid production capacity is generally loose, but there is obvious regional differentiation. The production capacity in the Asia-Pacific region is concentrated, with the utilization rate maintained between 60% and 70%, while the production capacity in Europe and the United States is mainly high-end, low-carbon, and special grades. The process of industry self-regulation of production control and elimination of backward production capacity is still continuing.
In the short term, from April to June 2026, the focus of the global adipic acid market will be concentrated on four aspects: first, the progress of the Brazilian anti-dumping sunset review and the expected final tax rate ruling; second, the continuous impact of the geopolitical situation in the Middle East on the petrochemical industry chain and adipic acid production costs; third, the trade differentiation trend between low-carbon products and traditional products after the full implementation of the EU CBAM; fourth, the cost reduction progress of bio-based adipic acid and the advancement of large-scale production. These factors will jointly determine the trend of the global adipic acid market in the coming period.


声明：此篇为 Shandong Yongsheng Chemical Co., Ltd. 原创文章，转载请标明出处链接： https://www.sdyshx.com/en/sys-nd/285.html
share
WeChat
Sina Weibo
QQ
QQ space
Douban
Baidu Post Bar
News