Polyacrylamide Market

Global Polyacrylamide Market Overview

Polyacrylamide Market Size was valued at USD 5.71  billion in 2023. The Polyacrylamide market industry is projected to grow from USD 6.05 Billion in 2024 to USD 6.06 billion by 2032, exhibiting a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.01% during the forecast period (2024 - 2030). The increased demand for enhanced oil recovery are driving the market growth.Source: Secondary Research, Primary Research, MRFR Database and Analyst Review

Polyacrylamide Market Trends

• Increasing demand for enhanced oil recovery to boost market growth

Rapid growth of energy demand across the globe due to increasing industrial activities is likely to create challenging situation to find new oilfields from which oil can be extracted in adequate quantities. Currently identified supplies of crude oil are anticipated to be sufficient to meet energy needs for around 50 years. Techniques for increasing the amount of oil recovered, thus, are being adopted to extend the capacity of oil reserves, whereby delaying the need to identify new giant fields. The global average for oil recovery from existing oilfields is only between 20% and 40%, less than half the recovery rates typically achieved in gas fields.

Water flooding is generally the preferred option for enhanced oil recovery due to the ready availability of sea water at oilfields. This involves injecting water into the oil reservoir to displace the oil and force it to flow into the production well. The efficiency of water flooding can be increased by adding polymers to the injected water, a practice known as polymer flooding. Typically synthetic polymers are used by the oil industry for polymer flooding. Historically these were unhydrolyzed polyacrylamide-based polymers, selected because of their good chemical stability. However, it became apparent that these polymers did not increase viscosity substantially and showed a high level of adsorption onto mineral surfaces. Consequently, the increases in recovery rates were not huge and lost polymer continually needed to be replaced.

Moreover, Growing mining activities is another key driver for polyacrylamide for augmenting the Polyacrylamide Market. Polyacrylamide is used as a flocculating agent to treat waste water generated during mining activities. The expansion in the mining sector is expected to propel the demand for polyacrylamide. Polyacrylamide is widely used in mining processing and in the treatment of minerals to separate mineral and mineral ore. It is also used as flocculants in the treatment of waste water from mineral processing that is formed by the mining channels during the mining process.

Figure 1: Revenue from U.S. wastewater treatmentSource: Secondary Research, Primary Research, MRFR Database and Analyst Review

Fresh water is an essential resource for human survival, used across multiple household amenities, agricultural & industrial activities, and others. Depleting water resources along with increasing global population are a huge threat for life on Earth. Furthermore, the per capita water availability has declined significantly in the past decade. Renewability of a water source is established on the basis of water cycle, i.e. ground water, ponds, rivers, and lakes that can be refilled by natural water cycle are considered to be renewable. Whereas, groundwater bodies are considered to be non-renewable due to the negligible replenishment rate. Furthermore, increasing temperatures along with reduced rainfall has led to drying of river beds and lakes causing water scarcity. Anionic PAM can boost the settling mechanism of inorganic suspended solids in effluent water. This characteristic makes APAM ideal for utilization as a flocculent agent to ease solid-liquid separation in the paper and pulp industry, wastewater and drinking water treatment, aquaculture, and several other industrial applications. Besides, products that employ negatively charged polyacrylamide as their active component have exhibited low toxicity and promising performance in analyses completed to date, further pushing their adoption in the years to come. Thus, the increasing demand for enhanced oil recovery and increasing awareness regarding wastewater management and growing need to reduce soil erosion driving the growth of the Polyacrylamide market revenue.

Polyacrylamide Market Segment Insights

Polyacrylamide Product Type Insights

The Polyacrylamide Market segmentation, based on product type, Anionic, Cationic, Non-Ionic. The Anionic segment held the majority share in 2021 contribution to around ~55-60% in respect to the Polyacrylamide Market revenue. This is primarily owing to the increasing awareness regarding wastewater management rising demand for Polyacrylamide.

June 2022: Governor John Bel Edwards and SNF Holding Company President John Pittman confirmed the company is investing an additional $375 million to expand its water-treatment and water-conditioning polymer production plant near Plaquemine, Louisiana. With the investment, the company will retain 390 existing jobs while adding 150 positions with an average annual salary of $87,300, plus benefits. Louisiana Economic Development estimates that upon full employment of 540 jobs, the project will support 1,400 direct and indirect jobs in Iberville Parish and the broader Capital Region.

Polyacrylamide Application Insights

The Polyacrylamide Market segmentation, based on application, includes  Water Treatment, Pulp and Paper, Mineral Processing, Enhanced Oil Recovery, Others. The Water Treatment segment dominated the market in 2021 and is projected to be the faster-growing segment during the forecast period, 2022-2030. Infrastructure is always known to be an essential factor in economic development, which has attracted much-renewed attention in recent years. The need for sustainable infrastructure to meet climate change challenges has influenced the demand for Polyacrylamide in developing countries. New infrastructure development and refurbishment of existing infrastructure are the driving force behind the increasing demand for Polyacrylamide. Increased demand for Polyacrylamide in various infrastructures, such as industrial, residential, and government buildings, has been seen recently. The growing prominence of room temperature control in these buildings is expected to boost the demand for Polyacrylamide further. Hence, demand in in different applications positively impacts the market growth.

June 2021 Kemira has completed the installation of new state-of-the art production units for emulsion polymers and bio acrylamide monomer at its manufacturing site in Mobile, Alabama. The capacity expansion in Mobile will strengthen Kemira’s position in the energy market in the Americas and supports our growth in the region going forward. This development has further increased market share in the  Polyacrylamide industry.

Figure 2: Polyacrylamide Market, by Product Type, 2021 & 2030 (USD Billion)Source: Secondary Research, Primary Research, MRFR Database and Analyst Review

The growing demand for acrylamide in manufacturing polyacrylamide polymers, used in wastewater treatment to enhance oil recovery and textile industry is likely to drive the market growth.

Polyacrylamide Application Insights

Based on application, the global Polyacrylamide industry has been segmented into  Water Treatment, Pulp and Paper, Mineral Processing, Enhanced Oil Recovery, and Others.  Water Treatment held the largest segment share in 2021, Water reuse and recycling processes have gained considerable traction over the years due to the worsening drinking water shortages and the growing needs of the global population. The Water Treatment segment is expected to bolster at a 6.12% CAGR during the assessed timeline.

Polyacrylamide Regional Insights

By Region, the study segments the market into North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, and Middle east & Africa. Asia-Pacific Polyacrylamide market accounted for USD 1.78 billion in 2021 and is expected to exhibit an 5.59% CAGR during the study period. This is attributed to the robust base of pharmaceutical and chemical manufacturing industries in the region has resulted in huge volumes of wastewater, which is expected to propel the demand for polyacrylamide as a water treatment chemical.

Further, the major countries studied are: The U.S, Canada, Germany, France, UK, Italy, Spain, China, Japan, India, Australia, South Korea, and Brazil.

Figure 3: POLYACRYLAMIDE MARKET SHARE BY REGION 2021 (%)Source: Secondary Research, Primary Research, MRFR Database and Analyst Review

Europe Polyacrylamide market accounts for the second-largest market share due to the growing investments in water recycling and purification technology. Further, the Germany Polyacrylamide market held the largest market share, and the UK Polyacrylamide market was the fastest growing market in the European region

The Asia-Pacific Polyacrylamide Market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 5.59% from 2022 to 2030. This is because of the increasing demand of wastewater treatment for most of the industrial applications in developing nations like China and India. Moreover, China Polyacrylamide market held the largest market share, and the India Polyacrylamide market was the fastest growing market in the Asia-Pacific region

For instance, India Polyacrylamide market is the favored destination for Polyacrylamide manufacturers due to the wastewater treatment. On the other hand, Japan is famous for the technology industry. Hence, Asia-Pacific is anticipated to register the highest growth rate over the forecast period from 2022–2030.

Polyacrylamide Key Market Players & Competitive Insights

Major market players are spending a lot of money on R&D to increase their product lines, which will help the Polyacrylamide market grow even more. Market participants are also taking a range of strategic initiatives to grow their worldwide footprint, including new product launches, contractual agreements, mergers and acquisitions, increased investments, and collaboration with other organizations. Competitors in the Polyacrylamide industry must offer cost-effective items to expand and survive in an increasingly competitive and rising market environment.

One of the primary business strategies adopted by manufacturers in the global Polyacrylamide industry to benefit clients and expand the Polyacrylamide market sector is to manufacture locally to reduce operating costs. In recent years, Polyacrylamide has provided some of the most significant benefits.

SNF (France) is a privately held, specialty chemical company based in the Rhone-Alpes region of France, with a long-standing presence on every continent. With 21 production sites in Europe, Asia, Australia, and America, with a production capacity of 1,325,000 tonnes, SNF has the largest polyacrylamide production capacity in the world. SNF products are sold into 130 countries, across every sector of the economy, with 70 subsidiaries located in more than 40 countries, in 3 major economic regions. In July 2022, Governor John Bel Edwards and SNF Holding Company President John Pittman confirmed the company is investing an additional $375 million to expand its water-treatment and water-conditioning polymer production plant near Plaquemine, Louisiana. With the investment, the company will retain 390 existing jobs while adding 150 positions with an average annual salary of $87,300, plus benefits. Louisiana Economic Development estimates that upon full employment of 540 jobs, the project will support 1,400 direct and indirect jobs in Iberville Parish and the broader Capital Region.

Also, BASF SE (Germany) is one of the leading chemical producers in the world. Its portfolio is organized into six segments, namely, chemicals, materials, industrial solutions, surface technologies, nutrition & care, and agricultural solutions. The company has an extensive regional presence. It has subsidiaries and joint ventures in more than 80 countries and operates 390 production sites in Europe, Asia-Pacific, North America, and Africa. BASF has customers across more than 190 countries and supplies products to a range of industries. In April 2019, BASF expands production of polyacrylamide powder in Nanjing, China. The new fully owned asset in China expands BASF’s global PAM manufacturing footprint for the mining and oilfield industries which relies primarily on long term supply agreements with production units in Europe, North America and Australia.

Key Companies in the Polyacrylamide market includes

• BASF SE (Germany)
• SNF Group (France)
• China National Petroleum Corporation (China)
• The Dow Chemical Company (US)
• PetroChina Company Limited (China)
• Black Rose Industries Ltd (India)
• Xitao Polymer Co., Ltd (China)
• Kemira OYJ (Finland)
• ZL Petrochemical Co., Ltd (US)
• Anhui Jucheng Fine Chemicals Co., Ltd (China).among others

Polyacrylamide Industry Developments

April 2019 BASF expands production of polyacrylamide powder in Nanjing, China. The new fully owned asset in China expands BASF’s global PAM manufacturing footprint for the mining and oilfield industries which relies primarily on long term supply agreements with production units in Europe, North America and Australia.

July 2018 BASF, one of the world leaders in the manufacturing of construction chemicals increased the production capacity of Neopor (expandable polystyrene containing graphite) by 40,000 metric tons per year through its two production sites in Ludwigshafen, Germany, and Ulsan, Korea. At the Ulsan site in Korea, BASF will switch the plant’s entire 85,000 metric tons capacity from white EPS (expandable polystyrene) Styropor to Neopor (grey EPS), which will help the company meet the growing demand for grey material in the Asian market.

April 2023 Ashland Inc. announced the expansion of its polyacrylamide production capacity in China. The expansion is expected to be completed in the second half of 2023.

June 2023 Kemira announced the acquisition of the polyacrylamide business of Nalco Water. The acquisition is expected to strengthen Kemira's position in the global polyacrylamide market.

Polyacrylamide Market Segmentation

Polyacrylamide Product Type Outlook

• Anionic
• Cationic
• Non-Ionic

Polyacrylamide Application Outlook

• Water Treatment
• Pulp and Paper
• Mineral Processing
• Enhanced Oil Recovery
• Others

Polyacrylamide Regional Outlook

• North America

  • US
  • Canada

• Europe

  • Germany
  • France
  • UK
  • Italy
  • Spain
  • Russia
  • Rest of Europe

• Asia-Pacific

  • China
  • Japan
  • India
  • South Korea
  • Rest of Asia-Pacific

• Latin America

  • Brazil
  • Mexico
  • Argentina
  • Rest of Latin America

• MEA

  • GCC Countries

  • South Africa

  • Rest of MEA

Polyacrylamide Market Segmentation

Polyacrylamide Product Type Outlook (USD Billion, 2019-2030)

• Anionic

• Cationic

• Non-Ionic

Polyacrylamide Application Outlook (USD Billion, 2019-2030)

• Water Treatment

• Pulp and Paper

• Mineral Processing

• Enhanced Oil Recovery

• Others

Polyacrylamide Regional Outlook (USD Billion, 2019-2030)

• North America Outlook (USD Billion, 2019-2030)

  • North America Polyacrylamide by Product Type

    • Anionic

    • Cationic

    • Non-Ionic

  • North America Polyacrylamide by Application

    • Water Treatment

    • Pulp and Paper

    • Mineral Processing

    • Enhanced Oil Recovery

    • Others

  • US Outlook (USD Billion, 2019-2030)

  • US Polyacrylamide by Product Type

    • Anionic

    • Cationic

    • Non-Ionic

  • US America Polyacrylamide by Application

    • Water Treatment

    • Pulp and Paper

    • Mineral Processing

    • Enhanced Oil Recovery

    • Others

  • Canada Outlook (USD Billion, 2019-2030)

  • Canada Polyacrylamide by Product Type

    • Anionic

    • Cationic

    • Non-Ionic

  • Canada Polyacrylamide by Application

    • Water Treatment

    • Pulp and Paper

    • Mineral Processing

    • Enhanced Oil Recovery

    • Others

• Europe Outlook (USD Billion, 2019-2030)

  • Europe Polyacrylamide by Product Type

    • Anionic

    • Cationic

    • Non-Ionic

  • Europe Polyacrylamide by Application

    • Water Treatment

    • Pulp and Paper

    • Mineral Processing

    • Enhanced Oil Recovery

    • Others

  • Germany Outlook (USD Billion, 2019-2030)

  • Germany Polyacrylamide by Product Type

    • Anionic

    • Cationic

    • Non-Ionic

  • Germany Polyacrylamide by Application

    • Water Treatment

    • Pulp and Paper

    • Mineral Processing

    • Enhanced Oil Recovery

    • Others

  • Russia Outlook (USD Billion, 2019-2030)

  • Russia Polyacrylamide by Product Type

    • Anionic

    • Cationic

    • Non-Ionic

  • Germany Polyacrylamide by Application

    • Water Treatment

    • Pulp and Paper

    • Mineral Processing

    • Enhanced Oil Recovery

    • Others

  • France Outlook (USD Billion, 2019-2030)

  • France Polyacrylamide by Product Type

    • Anionic

    • Cationic

    • Non-Ionic

  • Germany Polyacrylamide by Application

    • Water Treatment

    • Pulp and Paper

    • Mineral Processing

    • Enhanced Oil Recovery

    • Others

  • UK Outlook (USD Billion, 2019-2030)

  • UK Polyacrylamide by Product Type

    • Anionic

    • Cationic

    • Non-Ionic

  • UK Polyacrylamide by Application

    • Water Treatment

    • Pulp and Paper

    • Mineral Processing

    • Enhanced Oil Recovery

    • Others

  • Italy Outlook (USD Billion, 2019-2030)

  • Italy Polyacrylamide by Product Type

    • Anionic

    • Cationic

    • Non-Ionic

  • Italy Polyacrylamide by Application

    • Water Treatment

    • Pulp and Paper

    • Mineral Processing

    • Enhanced Oil Recovery

    • Others

  • Spain Outlook (USD Billion, 2019-2030)

  • Spain Polyacrylamide by Product Type

    • Anionic

    • Cationic

    • Non-Ionic

  • Spain Polyacrylamide by Application

    • Water Treatment

    • Pulp and Paper

    • Mineral Processing

    • Enhanced Oil Recovery

    • Others

  • Rest Of Europe Outlook (USD Billion, 2019-2030)

  • Rest Of Europe Polyacrylamide by Product Type

    • Anionic

    • Cationic

    • Non-Ionic

  • Rest of Europe Polyacrylamide by Application

    • Water Treatment

    • Pulp and Paper

    • Mineral Processing

    • Enhanced Oil Recovery

    • Others

• Asia-Pacific Outlook (USD Billion, 2019-2030)

  • Asia-Pacific Polyacrylamide by Product Type

    • Anionic

    • Cationic

    • Non-Ionic

  • Asia-Pacific Polyacrylamide by Application

    • Water Treatment

    • Pulp and Paper

    • Mineral Processing

    • Enhanced Oil Recovery

    • Others

  • China Outlook (USD Billion, 2019-2030)

  • China Polyacrylamide by Product Type

    • Anionic

    • Cationic

    • Non-Ionic

  • China Polyacrylamide by Application

    • Water Treatment

    • Pulp and Paper

    • Mineral Processing

    • Enhanced Oil Recovery

    • Others

  • Japan Outlook (USD Billion, 2019-2030)

  • Japan Polyacrylamide by Product Type

    • Anionic

    • Cationic

    • Non-Ionic

  • Japan Polyacrylamide by Application

    • Water Treatment

    • Pulp and Paper

    • Mineral Processing

    • Enhanced Oil Recovery

    • Others

  • India Outlook (USD Billion, 2019-2030)

  • India Polyacrylamide by Product Type

    • Anionic

    • Cationic

    • Non-Ionic

  • India Polyacrylamide by Application

    • Water Treatment

    • Pulp and Paper

    • Mineral Processing

    • Others

  • South Korea Outlook (USD Billion, 2019-2030)

  • South Korea Polyacrylamide by Product Type

    • Anionic

    • Cationic

    • Non-Ionic

  • South Korea Polyacrylamide by Application

    • Water Treatment

    • Pulp and Paper

    • Mineral Processing

    • Enhanced Oil Recovery

    • Others

  • Rest of Asia-Pacific Outlook (USD Billion, 2019-2030)

  • Rest of Asia-Pacific Polyacrylamide by Product Type

    • Anionic

    • Cationic

    • Non-Ionic

  • Rest of Asia-Pacific Polyacrylamide by Application

    • Water Treatment

    • Pulp and Paper

    • Mineral Processing

    • Enhanced Oil Recovery

    • Others

  • Middle East & Africa Outlook (USD Billion, 2019-2030)

  • Middle East & Africa Polyacrylamide by Product Type

    • Anionic

    • Cationic

    • Non-Ionic

  • Middle East & Africa Polyacrylamide by Application

    • Water Treatment

    • Pulp and Paper

    • Mineral Processing

    • Enhanced Oil Recovery

    • Others

  • South Africa Outlook (USD Billion, 2019-2030)

  • South Africa Polyacrylamide by Product Type

    • Anionic

    • Cationic

    • Non-Ionic

  • South Africa Polyacrylamide by Application

    • Water Treatment

    • Pulp and Paper

    • Mineral Processing

    • Enhanced Oil Recovery

    • Others

  • GCC Countries Outlook (USD Billion, 2019-2030)

  • GCC Countries Polyacrylamide by Product Type

    • Anionic

    • Cationic

    • Non-Ionic

  • GCC countries Polyacrylamide by Application

    • Water Treatment

    • Pulp and Paper

    • Mineral Processing

    • Enhanced Oil Recovery

    • Others

  • Latin America Outlook (USD Billion, 2019-2030)

  • Latin America Polyacrylamide by Product Type

    • Anionic

    • Cationic

    • Non-Ionic

  • Latin America Polyacrylamide by Application

    • Water Treatment

    • Pulp and Paper

    • Mineral Processing

    • Enhanced Oil Recovery

    • Others

  • Brazil Outlook (USD Billion, 2019-2030)

  • Brazil Polyacrylamide by Product Type

    • Anionic

    • Cationic

    • Non-Ionic

  • Brazil Polyacrylamide by Application

    • Water Treatment

    • Pulp and Paper

    • Mineral Processing

    • Enhanced Oil Recovery

    • Others

  • Mexico Outlook (USD Billion, 2019-2030)

  • Mexico Polyacrylamide by Product Type

    • Anionic

    • Cationic

    • Non-Ionic

  • Mexico Polyacrylamide by Application

    • Water Treatment

    • Pulp and Paper

    • Mineral Processing

    • Enhanced Oil Recovery

    • Others

  • Argentina Outlook (USD Billion, 2019-2030)

  • Argentina Polyacrylamide by Product Type

    • Anionic

    • Cationic

    • Non-Ionic

  • Argentina Polyacrylamide by Application

    • Water Treatment

    • Pulp and Paper

    • Mineral Processing

    • Enhanced Oil Recovery

    • Others

  • Rest of Latin America (USD Billion, 2019-2030)

  • Rest of Latin America Polyacrylamide by Product Type

    • Anionic

    • Cationic

    • Non-Ionic

  • Rest of Latin America Polyacrylamide by Application

    • Water Treatment

    • Pulp and Paper

    • Mineral Processing

    • Enhanced Oil Recovery

    • Others