Acrylonitrile

Acrylonitrile is a propylene-and-ammonia intermediate used to make ABS plastic, acrylic fibre, acrylamide, nylon 66 precursors and carbon fibre.

Commodity chemicals · Derivatives & intermediates · No. 41

• Single chemical
• Feedstock: Oil, gas or coal
• about 7 Mt a year of demand (2025, indicative)
• 3.4 t CO₂e per t
• HS 292610

The same molecule toughens your phone case, warms your acrylic jumper and goes into lightweight carbon fibre.

Chart: Illustration: Acrylonitrile

Where it comes from

Chart: Map of where it comes from

Propylene, ammonia and air react over a bismuth-molybdate catalyst in a fluidised bed. The reaction gives off so much heat that plants export high-pressure steam.

Three things to know

1. Almost all acrylonitrile is still made by the SOHIO ammoxidation process first introduced in 1960.
2. Prices slid from about $1.30 per kg CFR South Asia in January 2025 to about $1.04 in February 2026.
3. India's only plant, Reliance's 24 kt unit at Vadodara, has made nothing since at least 2016-17, so nearly all supply is imported.

The journey

1. 1 Propylene, ammonia1.1 t propylene, 0.48 t ammonia
2. 2 AmmoxidationFluidised bed at 400-500 C
3. 3 RecoveryDistilled from HCN and acetonitrile
4. 4 Inhibited liquidShipped under nitrogen to stop polymerising
5. 5 DerivativesABS, acrylic fibre, acrylamide, nylon 66

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