Global Sulfuric Acid Market Size, Share, and Trends Analysis Report – Industry Overview and Forecast to 2032

Sulfuric Acid Market Analysis

Sulfuric acid is a strong acid with hygroscopic characteristics and oxidizing properties. It is used in the fertilizer, chemical, synthetic textile, and pigment industries. Other applications include manufacturing batteries metal pickling, among other industrial manufacturing processes. In market sulfuric acid is available in different concentration grades such as 98%, 96.5%, 76%, 70% and 38%. A large quantity of sulfuric acid produces potassium sulfates and fertilizers.

Sulfuric acid is a highly corrosive, colorless viscous liquid and one of the most used chemicals in various fertilizer, pulp & paper, mining, and chemical industries. The largest amount of sulfuric acid is used to make phosphoric acid, used, in turn, to make the phosphate fertilizers, calcium dihydrogen phosphate, and ammonium phosphates. It is also used to make ammonium sulfate, an essential fertilizer in sulfur-deficient.

Sulfuric Acid Market Size

The global sulfuric acid market size was valued at USD 21.90 billion in 2024 and is projected to reach USD 28.61 billion by 2032, with a CAGR of 3.4% during the forecast period of 2025 to 2032. In addition to the insights on market scenarios such as market value, growth rate, segmentation, geographical coverage, and major players, the market reports curated by the Data Bridge Market Research also include import export analysis, production capacity overview, production consumption analysis, price trend analysis, climate change scenario, supply chain analysis, value chain analysis, raw material/consumables overview, vendor selection criteria, PESTLE Analysis, Porter Analysis, and regulatory framework.

Sulfuric Acid Market Trends

“Growth in Industrial Applications”

A key trend in the sulfuric acid market is the increasing demand from industrial applications, such as fertilizers, chemicals, and metal processing. These industries are gaining traction due to their critical role in global manufacturing and infrastructure development, providing essential raw materials for various end-use sectors. Sulfuric acid is widely used in the production of phosphate fertilizers, enhancing crop yields and agricultural productivity, while its application in chemical synthesis supports the manufacturing of essential compounds. Additionally, its role in metal processing improves extraction efficiency and product quality. As more industries seek cost-effective and high-performance solutions, sulfuric acid is becoming a preferred choice for large-scale industrial operations, ensuring sustainability and economic viability.

Report Scope and Sulfuric Acid Market Segmentation

Sulfuric Acid Market Definition

Sulfuric acid is a colorless, odorless, and viscous liquid soluble in water at all concentrations. It is a strong acid made by oxidizing sulfur dioxide solutions and used in large quantities as an industrial and laboratory reagent. Sulfuric acid or sulphuric acid, also known as oil of vitriol, is a mineral acid composed of sulfur, oxygen, and hydrogen, with molecular formula H2SO4 and melting point is 10 °C, the boiling point is 337 °C. The Asia-Pacific is the largest consumer of fertilizers due to the increased demand for sulfuric acid based fertilizers in the region.

Sulfuric Acid Market Dynamics

Drivers

• Increasing Demand of Fertilizers in Agriculture Industry

Fertilizer is a chemical material added to crops for increasing overall yield productivity. Farmers use it to improve soil power, which helps increase the production of crops. It includes essential nutrients such as (potassium, nitrogen, and phosphorus) necessary for the plants' growth. The demand for high-quality fertilizers is increasing in the agricultural industry. Several fertilizers are manufactured from sulfuric acid, which helps to increase crop production and soil fertility. The sulfuric acid can easily be mixed with the soil and liquid fertilizers.

• Growing Demand of Sulfuric Acid Across A Diverse Range of Industries

Sulfuric acid is used in the metal processing industry, fertilizer & agriculture, automotive, oil & gas refining and others. It is more used in the cleaning products used in the metal processing industry cleaning the surface of steel sheet known as pickling and is used to remove the corrosion from iron products. In fertilizers, sulfuric acid makes superphosphate of lime and ammonium sulfate. With the rise in demand for nutrient-rich food crops, the need and use of sulfuric acid increases in fertilizers.

• Significant Growth in the Chemical Industry

The chemical industries produce petrochemicals, polymers, and industrial chemicals. Sulfuric acid is a necessary commodity chemical used primarily to produce phosphoric acid. It is used to manufacture several chemicals with high demand in the chemical industry. The market growth is augmenting due to higher requirements for hydrochloric acid, nitric acid, sulfate salts, synthetic detergents, dyes and pigments, explosives, and other drugs.

• Rising Use in the Recovery of Waste Printed Circuit Boards

Waste generated by electrical and electronic devices is a huge concern worldwide. With the decreasing life cycle of most electronic devices and the unavailability of suitable recycling technologies, huge electronic and electrical wastes will be generated in the coming years. Different metals such as gold, copper, nickel, silver, zinc, iron, and platinum are recovered from the waste printed circuit boards. Recovery from waste printed circuit boards is carried out using processes such as microwave pyrolysis, acid leaching, solvent extraction, and oxidative precipitation. The leaching efficiency of copper is approximately 95% when using a lixiviant composed of sulfuric acid and hydrogen peroxide.

 Opportunities

• Growing Demand for Batteries in the Automotive Industry

The use of sulfuric acid in the batteries helps automotive to store power for long periods, thus enabling the longer life of the batteries and vehicles. Therefore, the growing automotive industry in the electric vehicles segment is expected to provide lucrative opportunities for the global sulfuric acid market growth.

• Abundance of Sulfur as a Raw Material

In the production of sulfuric acid, various sulfur elements undergo several processes and produce the acidic form of sulfur. Worldwide, there is abundant availability of sulfur which creates an advantage for sulfuric acid manufacturers.

 Restraints/Challenges

• Health Hazards Associated with Sulfuric Acid

Sulfuric acid is a powerful diprotic acid. It is exothermic in nature and exhibits hygroscopic properties. It is a powerful oxidizing agent and reacts with many metals at high temperatures. Concentrated H2SO4 is also a strong dehydrating agent. The addition of water into concentrated sulfuric acid is a potent reaction and can lead to explosions. Thus, increasing health hazards associated with the use of sulfuric acid on the skin, eyes, and other organs is likely to hamper the global sulfuric acid market demand.

• Difficulties Involved in the Transportation and Handling of Sulfuric Acid

Sulfuric acid has dehydrating properties as sulfuric acid absorbs moisture and water from its surroundings. It is a colorless compound that is toxic and has to be stored and maintained at a specific temperature range. It is carried and transportable in a stainless steel tank or container with a minimum concentration of about 90% and temperatures not exceeding 35ºC. Also, concerns regarding transportation and handling of sulfuric acid is projected to challenge the sulfuric acid market in the forecast period of 2025-2032.

This market report provides details of new recent developments, trade regulations, import-export analysis, production analysis, value chain optimization, market share, impact of domestic and localized market players, analyses opportunities in terms of emerging revenue pockets, changes in market regulations, strategic market growth analysis, market size, category market growths, application niches and dominance, product approvals, product launches, geographic expansions, technological innovations in the market. To gain more info on the market contact Data Bridge Market Research for an Analyst Brief, our team will help you take an informed market decision to achieve market growth.

Impact and Current Market Scenario of Raw Material Shortage and Shipping Delays

Data Bridge Market Research offers a high-level analysis of the market and delivers information by keeping in account the impact and current market environment of raw material shortage and shipping delays. This translates into assessing strategic possibilities, creating effective action plans, and assisting businesses in making important decisions.

Apart from the standard report, we also offer in-depth analysis of the procurement level from forecasted shipping delays, distributor mapping by region, commodity analysis, production analysis, price mapping trends, sourcing, category performance analysis, supply chain risk management solutions, advanced benchmarking, and other services for procurement and strategic support.

Expected Impact of Economic Slowdown on the Pricing and Availability of Products

When economic activity slows, industries begin to suffer. The forecasted effects of the economic downturn on the pricing and accessibility of the products are taken into account in the market insight reports and intelligence services provided by DBMR. With this, our clients can typically keep one step ahead of their competitors, project their sales and revenue, and estimate their profit and loss expenditures.

Sulfuric Acid Market Scope

The market is segmented on the basis of raw material, form, manufacturing process, distribution channel, and application. The growth amongst these segments will help you analyze meagre growth segments in the industries and provide the users with a valuable market overview and market insights to help them make strategic decisions for identifying core market applications.

Raw Material

• Base Metal Smelters
• Elemental Sulfur
• Pyrite Ore
• Others

Form

• Concentrated (98%)
• Tower/Glover Acid (77.67%)
• Chamber/Fertilizer Acid (62.8%)
• Battery Acid (33.5%)
• 66 Degree Baume Sulfuric Acid (93%)
• Dilute Sulfuric Acid (10%)

 Manufacturing Process

• Contact Process
• Lead Chamber Process
• Wet Sulfuric Acid Process
• Metabisulfite Process
• Others

Distribution Channel

• Offline
• Online

Application

• Fertilizers
• Chemical Manufacturing
• Petroleum Refining
• Metal Processing
• Automotive
• Textile
• Drug Manufacturing
• Pulp & Paper
• Industrial
• Others

Sulfuric Acid Market Regional Analysis

The market is analyzed and market size insights and trends are provided by country, raw material, form, manufacturing process, distribution channel, and application as referenced above.

The countries covered in the sulfuric acid market report are the U.S., Canada and Mexico in North America, Germany, France, U.K., Netherlands, Switzerland, Belgium, Russia, Italy, Spain, Turkey, Rest of Europe in Europe, China, Japan, India, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, Rest of Asia-Pacific (APAC) in the Asia-Pacific (APAC), Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, South Africa, Egypt, Israel, Rest of Middle East and Africa (MEA) as a part of Middle East and Africa (MEA), Brazil, Argentina and Rest of South America as part of South America.

Asia-Pacific dominates the sulfuric acid market because of the presence of a large number of manufacturers and increasing demand from various industries such as chemical manufacturing fertilizers, among others.

Europe and is expected to witness significant growth during the forecast period of 2025 to 2032 due to growing demand for batteries in the automotive industry in the region. Europe is followed by North America and is expected to grow significantly owing to the availability of abundance of sulfur as a raw material.

The country section of the report also provides individual market impacting factors and changes in market regulation that impact the current and future trends of the market. Data points such as down-stream and upstream value chain analysis, technical trends and porter's five forces analysis, case studies are some of the pointers used to forecast the market scenario for individual countries. Also, the presence and availability of global brands and their challenges faced due to large or scarce competition from local and domestic brands, impact of domestic tariffs and trade routes are considered while providing forecast analysis of the country data.

Sulfuric Acid Market Share

The market competitive landscape provides details by competitor. Details included are company overview, company financials, revenue generated, market potential, investment in research and development, new market initiatives, global presence, production sites and facilities, production capacities, company strengths and weaknesses, product launch, product width and breadth, application dominance. The above data points provided are only related to the companies' focus related to market.

Sulfuric Acid Market Leaders Operating in the Market Are:

• LANXESS (Germany)
• Brenntag GmbH (a subsidiary of Brenntag SE) (Germany)
• Boliden Group (Sweden)
• Adisseo (France)
• Veolia (France)
• Univar Solutions Inc (U.S.)
• NORAM Engineering & Construction Ltd. (Canada)
• Nouryon (Netherlands)
• International Raw Materials LTD (U.S.)
• Eti Bakir (Turkey)
• ACIDEKA SA (Spain)
• Airedale Chemical Company Limited (U.K.)
• BASF SE (Germany)
• Aguachem Ltd (U.K.)
• Feralco AB (U.K.)
• Fluorsid (Italy)
• Aurubis AG (Germany)
• Nyrstar (Netherlands)
• Merck KGaA (Germany)
• Shrieve (U.S.)

Latest Developments in Sulfuric Acid Market

• In November 2020, Airedale Chemical Company Limited acquired Alutech, which provides a range of metal treatment solutions, including aluminum brighteners and pre-treatment cleaners. This development helps the company increase the demand for sulfuric acid, which has increased its profits.
• In May 2017, BASF SE introduced a new sulfuric acid catalyst preferred due to its unique geometrical shape. This update helps the company to increase production capacity, which generates revenue in the future.

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