Hydrofluoric acid
The gateway to all fluorine chemistry: fluorspar plus sulphuric acid gives HF, the feed for refrigerants, fluoropolymers, battery salts and chip etching.
Commodity chemicals · Acids & alkalis · No. 5
- Single chemical
- Feedstock: Minerals and salts
- about 3 Mt HF a year (2025, derived: about 6.5 Mt acidspar / about 2.1 t acidspar per t HF)
- 0.8 t CO₂e per t
- HS 281111
A splash of this acid can kill by draining your body's calcium, yet every fridge, phone battery and microchip depends on it.
Chart: Illustration: Hydrofluoric acid
Where it comes from
Chart: Map of where it comes from
Acid-grade fluorspar is roasted with sulphuric acid in rotary kilns, and the HF gas is scrubbed and distilled to at least 99.9% purity; about 3 Mt is made a year.
Three things to know
- Making 1 t of HF takes about 2.1 t of acid-grade fluorspar and 2.6 t of sulphuric acid, so whoever controls fluorspar controls HF.
- In July 2019 Japan restricted high-purity HF exports to South Korea, forcing Korean chipmakers to find new suppliers fast.
- India's Navin Fluorine opened a 40 kt/yr plant at Dahej in February 2026, lifting its capacity to about 60 kt/yr.
The journey
- 1 FluorsparMined and floated to over 97% CaF2
- 2 Rotary kilnHeated with sulphuric acid at 200-350 C
- 3 PurificationScrubbed and distilled to 99.9% HF
- 4 Anhydrite3.4-3.6 t gypsum-like waste per tonne
- 5 ConversionRefrigerants, fluoropolymers, battery salts, chip etchants