In 2011, the world production capacity of acrylic acid went beyond 5.3 million tonnes. In the same year, Asia ranked the 1st in the world in terms of acrylic acid production capacity, calling for a bit under 47.5% of the world’s total figure. It was followed by Europe and North America with shares equivalent to 25.26% and 25.08%, respectively.
Acrylic acid: world production broken down by region, 2011
Between 2008 and 2011, the world acrylic acid production followed an upward trend, and in 2011, it grew 4.8% YoY and exceeded 4.15 million tonnes. Asia was the leading regional acrylic acid producer with a share of 46.66% of the overall production volume, followed by Europe and North America. In 2011, the top five acrylic acid manufacturing countries (the USA, China, Japan, Germany and Belgium) captured slightly over 78.5% of the world’s total acrylic acid production. In the same year, the combined production volume of the top five country producers stood at more than 3.25 million tonnes.
Acrylic acid: world production broken down by country, 2011
BASF, Dow Chemical, Arkema, Nippon Shokubai, Formosa Plastics Corp, StoHaas Marl GmbH, Jiangsu Jurong Chemical, LG Chem, Zhejiang Satellite Petrochemical, PetroChina Company Limited, American Acryl LP, Mitsubishi Chemical Corp (MCC), Sasol Acrylates and Shenyang Paraffin Chemical are among the top players in the world acrylic acid market.
The global acrylic acid consumption grew at a stable pace between 2008 and 2011, and in 2011, it exceeded 4.15 million tonnes. Asia took the lead in terms of acrylic acid consumption, with the consumption volume in the region standing at over 1.84 million tonnes in 2011.
Both the global acrylic acid production and consumption are poised for stable growth in the oncoming years. The worldwide acrylic acid production is forecast to surpass the 5.46 million tonnes mark in 2017.
More information on the acrylic acid market can be found in the research study “Acrylic Acid: 2014 World Market Outlook and Forecast up to 2018”.