The global nitric acid market size crossed USD 18.0 billion in 2017. Rising nitric acid consumption in fertilizers, chemicals and explosives is expected to drive the market growth over the years ahead. Weak nitric acid is the most significantly consumed product grade, especially in application such as ammonium nitrate, adipic acid, and other chemical compounds.

The U.S. nitric acid market was estimated at USD 2,741.1 million in 2017. Presence of a well-established fertilizer sector comprising companies that have significant nitrogen, potash and phosphorus capacities in the country, is expected to drive the product demand. Furthermore, due to considerable extraction and mining activities on-going in the country, the demand for nitric acid based explosives will grow as well.

                                                  U.S. Nitric Acid Market Revenue, 2015-2025 (USD Mn)

Strong environmental regulations imposed on nitric acid and its derivatives, in some of the geographies and inconvenience of logistics, handling and storage are the key hindering factors, which might restrain the market demand over the years ahead.

                                    Global Nitric Acid Market Share, By Application, 2017 (%)

Ammonium nitrate is the largest application, which currently accounts for about 75% share of the global nitric acid demand. However, the consumption of technical grade ammonium nitrate in explosives manufacturing is expected to be hampered, due to heavy environmental regulations imposed on the product in developed countries. As a consequence, the demand for nitric acid in manufacturing ammonium nitrate is likely to reflect a narrowing trend without the authority of government, in the future. However, adipic acid is one of the fastest growing application of nitric acid. Adipic acid is utilized in the production of nylon fibers for textiles and micro gears & shafts for automotive industries.

Most of the nitric acid is consumed in bulk for manufacturing various end-use products. Ostwald process is the most preferred process for commercial manufacturing of the product. This process is followed worldwide except China, where manufacturing of nitric acid is conducted through coal gasification deploys.

Weak nitric acid captures the major share of the industry, due to its consumption in the manufacturing of a wide variety of end-products such as ammonium nitrate, toluene di-isocynate, and adipic acid. Regulations imposed on the concentrated grade enhances the inclination of the customer towards the weak grade nitric acid. Moreover, the convertible tendency of the weak grade enables the bulk manufacturing of the dilute grade in contrast to concentrated grade. Extractive distillation process is the most preferred process utilized for the production of concentrated nitric acid grade.

Europe is the largest consumer of nitric acid and currently accounts for almost half of the global consumption of the product. However, the nitric acid demand in this region has witnessed a declining trend since the past few years. Asia Pacific has been the fastest-growing region over last few years. China, India and Indonesia are the key countries, which have been the drivers of nitric acid market demand in this region. The nitric acid demand in the Middle East and Africa region has reflected a decent growth. South Africa and other Sub- Saharan countries are the key demanding areas in the region due to fast-growing agriculture industries which are expected to drive the market in future.

The global nitric acid supplier landscape is relatively consolidated in nature. Existence of a large number of regional players helps in satisfying the domestic demand in certain areas in china and India. With large production capacities, the top manufacturers constitute larger portion of the global market. Yara International ASA, CF Industry Holding Inc., Deepak Fertilizers And Petrochemicals Ltd., Orica Limited, Omnia Holdings Limited, Agrium Inc., and LSB Industries are some of the key global manufacturers of nitric acid.

Key segments of the Global Nitric Acid Market

Concentration Overview, 2015-2025 (Kilo Tons) (USD Million)

• Weak nitric acid
• Concentrated nitric acid

End-user Overview, 2015-2025 (Kilo Tons) (USD Million)

• Explosives
• Fertilisers
• Chemicals
• Others

Application Overview, 2015-2025 (Kilo Tons) (USD Million)

• Ammonium Nitrate
• Adipic Acid
• Toluene Di-Isocynate (TDI)
• Nitrobenzene
• Others

Regional Overview, 2013-2025 (Kilo Tons) (USD Million)

• North America
  • US
• Europe
  • France
  • Germany
  • Russia
• Asia Pacific
  • China
  • India
• Latin America
  • Brazil
• Middle East & Africa
  • South Africa

Reasons for the study

• The purpose of the study is to give a comprehensive outlook of the global nitric acid market.
• We have been following the overall segmentation of nitric acid especially weak nitric acid. This sector has been capturing the customer concentration, as a key fragment of the nitric acid market
• Emerging market of nitric acid in the Middle East & Africa and South America have been mainly driven by the increased demand on fertilizers consumption in agriculture industry to produce self-sufficient quantity of farming products

• While conducting research on regional and country level, we noticed that the use of the product in multiple applications especially for production of fertilizer and textiles are expanding which adds the value to the growing market of the product

What does the report include?

• The study on the global nitric acid market includes qualitative factors such as drivers, restraints, and opportunities
• Additionally, the market has been evaluated using the value chain, PESTLE and Porter’s Five Forces’ analysis
• The study covers qualitative and quantitative analysis of the market segmented on the basis of concentration, application, end-user and region. Moreover, the study provides similar information for the key geographies.
• Actual market sizes and forecasts have been provided for all the above-mentioned segments
• The study includes the profiles of key players in the market with a significant global and/or regional presence

Who should buy this report?

This study is suitable for industry participants and stakeholders in the inorganic acids industry, who want an in-depth insight into the movement of the weak and concentrated grades of the product. The report will benefit:

• Facts and statistics about nitric acid and its precursor manufacturing companies that are engaged in the production and distribution of the product.
• Managers within financial institutions looking to publish recent and forecasted statistics pertaining to numerous terminologies related to the product.
• Venture capitalist looking into investing capital in manufacturing of product.
• Government organizations, regulatory authorities, policymakers and financial organizations looking for innovative solutions for production, supply and logistics of nitric acid.
• Analysts, researchers, educators, strategy managers, and academic institutions looking for insights into the market to determine future strategies