Acrylic acid: Overview
From emulsion paint to the gel inside nappies
What this tab covers What the chemical is, how big its market is, what it is used for (with shares, volumes, why it wins and what could replace it), and its chain from raw material to end user. Ends with three things to remember.Acrylic acid (CH2=CHCOOH) is made by oxidising propylene with air in two steps over mixed-metal oxide catalysts. About half becomes acrylate esters (butyl, 2-ethylhexyl, ethyl, methyl acrylate) used in water-based paints, adhesives and textiles; most of the rest is purified to glacial acrylic acid and polymerised into superabsorbent polymer (SAP) for diapers and hygiene products. Global sales were about $12 billion in 2024 and are growing about 4% a year. India has no operating world-scale producer yet; IOCL's 90 kt/yr unit at Dumad, Gujarat, is its first major project.
Volume about 7 Mt a year (2025, indicative) Market value about $12.0 billion (2024) Growth 4.3% a year to 2034 (forecast); demand grew 5.2% a year in 2015-2021 Future Market Insights via Docswell, Jul 2025 (value, growth); volume indicativeKey uses
| Use | Share | Annual volume | Why this commodity | Alternatives |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Acrylate esters (butyl, 2-EH, ethyl, methyl acrylate) | 50% | about 3.5 Mt AAbasis | Esters polymerise into acrylic emulsions that form tough, clear, UV-stable films for water-based paints, pressure-sensitive adhesives, textile finishes and sealants. Acrylics beat alkyds and solvent systems on durability and VOC rules. Chemical Market Analytics, 2026 (about half of demand) | vinyl acetate (VAE) emulsions styrene-butadiene latex polyurethane dispersions |
| Superabsorbent polymers (SAP) | 32% | about 2.2 Mt AAbasis | Cross-linked sodium polyacrylate absorbs 30-50 times its weight of urine under pressure (indicative), which makes thin modern diapers possible. No other material matches it at the cost. indicative (basis: industry splits) | fluff pulp (lower performance) bio-based SAP (pilot) starch-grafted polymers |
| Polyacrylic acid for detergents and water treatment | 10% | about 0.7 Mt AAbasis | Low-molecular-weight polyacrylates disperse scale and soil in detergents, cooling water and boilers, replacing phosphates. indicative | phosphonates biodegradable polyaspartates |
| Other: specialty acrylates, flocculants, oilfield | 8% | about 0.6 Mt AAbasis | Specialty monomers for UV-curing coatings, inks and copolymers. indicative (remainder) | methacrylates |
From raw material to user
- Propylene About 0.7 t chemical- or polymer-grade propylene per t acrylic acid (indicative).
- Two-stage oxidation Propylene and air pass over bismuth-molybdate catalyst to acrolein at about 330°C, then over molybdenum-vanadium catalyst to acrylic acid at about 260°C (indicative).
- Crude acrylic acid recovery Absorption and distillation give crude AA (about 98%) for esters or glacial AA (99.5%+) for SAP.
- Esterification or polymerisation Esters made with butanol or 2-ethylhexanol; SAP made by neutralising with caustic soda and cross-linking.
- End products Paints, adhesives, diapers, sanitary pads and detergents.
Made from (commodity table)
Oil Crude oilThree things to know
- About half of acrylic acid goes into esters for paints and adhesives (Chemical Market Analytics 2026).
- Global sales were about $12.0 billion in 2024, forecast to reach about $18.2 billion by 2034 (Future Market Insights).
- India's first world-scale unit is IOCL's 90 kt/yr acrylic acid and 150 kt/yr butyl acrylate complex at Dumad, Gujarat, built under a $255 million EPCC contract (Tecnimont 2020).