# Citric acid: Overview From cola to cleaners: why this acid is everywhere Source page: https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/citric_acid/overview/ 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. Citric acid gives soft drinks their sharpness, preserves food, softens water in detergents and chelates metals in cleaners and medicines. It is made by fermenting glucose, sucrose or molasses with the mould Aspergillus niger, then purifying the broth. World sales were about $4.0-4.5 billion in 2025 (Fortune Business Insights; TBRC), roughly 2.5-3 Mt a year (indicative). China holds most capacity, so Chinese maize prices, coal-fired steam and export policy decide world prices. India has little production and imports most of its needs. Volume about 2.5-3 Mt a year (2025, indicative; no official world tonnage published) Market value $3.97 billion (2025, Fortune Business Insights) to $4.5 billion (2025, TBRC) Growth 4.3-6.3% a year in value: TBRC $4.69 billion in 2026 and $5.64 billion in 2030; Fortune $6.81 billion by 2034 TBRC Citric Acid Global Market Report via GII (2026); Fortune Business Insights via HackMD summary (2026); tonnage indicative #### Key uses | Use | Share | Annual volume | Why this commodity | Alternatives | |---|---|---|---|---| | **Food and beverages (soft drinks, confectionery, jams, processed food)** | 60% | about 1.65 Mtbasis | Cheap, safe, pleasant sourness and a strong buffer. It is also an antioxidant synergist and preservative, so one ingredient does several jobs. It is GRAS in the US and E330 in the EU with no limit on use. IMARC and TBRC application lists; share indicative | Malic acid Lactic acid Phosphoric acid (colas) Tartaric acid | | **Household detergents and cleaners** | 20% | about 0.55 Mtbasis | Sodium citrate replaced phosphates as a builder in many laundry and dishwasher detergents after phosphate bans because it softens water and biodegrades. Descalers use the acid directly. IMARC application list; share indicative | Phosphates (where allowed) Zeolites MGDA and GLDA chelants | | **Pharmaceuticals and personal care** | 12% | about 0.33 Mtbasis | Effervescent tablets, syrups, blood anticoagulant (sodium citrate) and pH adjustment in cosmetics. Pharma grades sell at a premium. IMARC application list; share indicative | Tartaric acid Phosphate buffers | | **Industrial (metal cleaning, concrete and gypsum retarder, oilfield, textiles)** | 8% | about 0.22 Mtbasis | Chelates iron and calcium, slows setting of gypsum and cement, and passivates stainless steel without nitric acid. indicative | EDTA Gluconates Nitric acid passivation | No published share breakdown was reached; IMARC and TBRC list these applications without public shares. Shares are indicative orders of magnitude applied to an indicative 2.75 Mt world total. #### From raw material to user 1. **Crop** Maize (China), cassava (Thailand) or cane and beet molasses (Europe, Americas) supply sugar; world maize output about 1,331 Mt in 2025/26 (maize tile, USDA). 2. **Hydrolysis or milling** Maize is milled and its starch hydrolysed to glucose; molasses is clarified and diluted. 3. **Fermentation** Aspergillus niger converts sugar to citric acid over 5-10 days in tanks of several hundred cubic metres, at roughly 0.8-0.9 t acid per t sugar (indicative). 4. **Recovery and purification** Lime precipitates calcium citrate, sulphuric acid frees the acid and leaves about 1 t of gypsum per t (indicative); newer plants use solvent extraction or chromatography. 5. **Crystallisation and sale** Sold as anhydrous or monohydrate crystals and as sodium or potassium citrate, in 25 kg bags or 1 t big bags. #### Made from (commodity table) [Mz Maize](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/maize/)[Su Sugar](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/sugar/)[Csv Cassava](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/cassava/) #### Three things to know - China holds most of the world's citric acid capacity (indicative), so its maize price and export flows set the world price. - Sugar is the main cost: roughly 1.1-1.3 t of sugar or glucose goes into each tonne of acid (indicative). - The EU and US have kept anti-dumping duties on Chinese citric acid since 2008-2009, which splits the market into regional price zones (EU Implementing Regulation 2021/607, under expiry review since 14 April 2026; US orders, indicative). #### Read the tabs [Production route](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/citric_acid/routes/)[Production](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/citric_acid/production/)[Feedstocks](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/citric_acid/feedstocks/)[Cycles](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/citric_acid/cycles/)[Trading](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/citric_acid/trading/)[Movement](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/citric_acid/movement/)[Regulation](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/citric_acid/regulation/)[Characteristics](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/citric_acid/characteristics/)[Emissions](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/citric_acid/emissions/) ## Other sections - [Summary](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/citric_acid/index.md) - [Correlation](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/citric_acid/correlation/index.md) - [Production route](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/citric_acid/routes/index.md) - [Production](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/citric_acid/production/index.md) - [Feedstocks](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/citric_acid/feedstocks/index.md) - [Cycles](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/citric_acid/cycles/index.md) - [Trading](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/citric_acid/trading/index.md) - [Movement](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/citric_acid/movement/index.md) - [Regulation](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/citric_acid/regulation/index.md) - [Characteristics](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/citric_acid/characteristics/index.md) - [Emissions](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/citric_acid/emissions/index.md) - [Relationships](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/citric_acid/links/index.md)