Hydrochloric acid: Movement

Why hydrochloric acid rarely crosses a sea

What this tab covers How it moves between countries: share of output traded, physical form and transport, the largest exporters and importers, main routes, India's trade, and handling rules in transit.

Trade in 2024 UN Comtrade, HS 280610

World exports $413.2 m 93 reporting exporters · about 2.27 m t Largest exporter Germany 17.5% of world exports Largest importer United States 16.4% of world imports India imports $1.36 m
exports $10.6 m #49 importer · #11 exporter

Where it is exported from and imported to, 2024

Chart: World map of the largest trade flows

Exporter (size = share of world exports) Importer (share of world imports) Shipping chokepoint UN Comtrade 2024, HS 280610: shares of reported world exports and imports by value. Country-to-country route lines are not available for this commodity yet. Hover a circle for values.

HS 280610: largest exporters

Country	Share	Value (US$)	Tonnes
Germany	17.5%	$72.5 m	473k
Canada	14.6%	$60.2 m	278k
Japan	7.7%	$32.0 m	10k
United States	6.7%	$27.7 m	127k
Belgium	6.2%	$25.6 m	248k
Netherlands	4.5%	$18.7 m	165k
Austria	4%	$16.3 m	63k
Spain	3.8%	$15.8 m	151k

HS 280610: largest importers

Country	Share	Value (US$)	Tonnes
United States	16.4%	$73.6 m	317k
France	9.4%	$42.5 m	289k
Germany	8.5%	$38.3 m	223k
Belgium	4.7%	$21.4 m	133k
China	3.9%	$17.7 m	8,904
South Korea	3.5%	$16.0 m	–
Canada	3.1%	$14.0 m	41k
Italy	3%	$13.4 m	63k

UN Comtrade 2024, reported by each country (exports by exporters, imports by importers), all partners. Some countries (for example Russia and Iran) do not report, so their shares are missing. HS codes can be broader than the tile: check the code before reading a share as the whole market.

How it moves

Measure	Figure
Share traded	very small; acid is mostly sold within a few hundred km (indicative)
How it moves	30-36% acid in rubber-lined or FRP road tankers, ISO tanks and rail cars; anhydrous HCl in cylinders for electronics
Routes and chokepoints	Cross-border trade between neighbours (US-Canada, US-Mexico, within the EU); Chinese exports rose 149% year on year in Q1 2026 but were only about 8,156 t (Procurement Resource).
India	India's HCl trade is small; not published here (HS 280610).
Handling in transit	UN1789 (hydrochloric acid), class 8 corrosive, packing group II; anhydrous HCl UN1050, class 2.3.