Polyacrylamide

According to recent (January - February 2026) international media reports and industry dynamics, there have been significant developments in the polyacrylamide (PAM) field in four aspects: market price, technological application, industrial supply, and policy supervision.

From a global market perspective, the demand for polyacrylamide continues to expand. It is expected to grow at an average annual rate of 5.79%, increasing from 2.45 million tons in 2026 to 3.25 million tons in 2031. The main driving forces come from tertiary oil recovery in oil and gas extraction and municipal and industrial sewage treatment. The Asia - Pacific region remains the world's largest market, accounting for nearly 50% in 2025. Notably, there is an obvious regional price differentiation: in the fourth quarter of 2025, the average market price in Germany reached $3,592 per ton, $2,652 per ton in the United States, while in China it was only $798 per ton. This reflects Europe's high premium ability for high - value - added products such as high - end, low - residual monomer, and bio - based products, and also highlights China's cost advantages as a production base.

Two important breakthroughs have occurred at the technological level. In the field of unconventional oil and gas development, a Chinese research team has verified the high - efficiency performance of high - molecular - weight acrylamide - acrylic acid copolymers in carbon dioxide mixed fracturing fluids. It can form a stable CO₂ - water system without the need for a dedicated thickener, significantly improving sand - carrying capacity and filtration control, and providing a new path for water conservation and efficiency improvement in shale gas fracturing. In the field of mineral processing, a study recently published in "Minerals Engineering" reveals that PAM plays a dual mechanism of flocculation and scale inhibition in beneficiation return water, providing theoretical support for the high - proportion reuse of mining wastewater.

There has also been substantial production capacity put into operation at the industrial supply end. The joint - venture factory of Mitsui Chemicals and Yongsan Company in Busan, South Korea, has completed the commissioning of a 5,000 - ton/year bio - based acrylamide plant, using a copper - catalyzed biological process with a total investment of approximately $4 million. This move increases Mitsui Chemicals' total acrylamide production capacity to 55,000 tons/year, aiming to meet the incremental demand of 200,000 tons per year in the Asian region and further strengthen the regional supply chain.

In terms of policies and regulations, there is a dual - track characteristic of 'liberalization at the application end and strict control at the raw material end'. On January 22, 2026, the Environmental Ministry of Taiwan (China) officially added polyacrylamide as a legal polymer coagulant for drinking water treatment, which took effect immediately. This move officially confirms its safety in drinking water purification. At the same time, the European and American markets continue to tighten supervision over residual acrylamide monomers. The California Proposition 65 and the classification of the International Agency for Research on Cancer continue to exert pressure, forcing enterprises to improve purification processes, and small non - compliant suppliers are being phased out at an accelerated pace.

Overall, the polyacrylamide industry is in a stage of expanding demand, technological upgrading, and a simultaneous increase in compliance thresholds. Regional market differentiation and the green manufacturing transformation are reshaping the global competitive landscape.