Lactic acid and PLA: Movement
Keep it dry: shipping pellets and acid around the world
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 291811
World exports $660.1 m 72 reporting exporters · about 374k t Largest exporter China 21.2% of world exports Largest importer United States 11.1% of world imports India imports $10.0 mexports $5.08 m #19 importer · #12 exporter
Where it is exported from and imported to, 2024
Chart: World map of the largest trade flows
Exporter (size = share of world exports) Importer (share of world imports) Shipping chokepoint UN Comtrade 2024, HS 291811: shares of reported world exports and imports by value. Country-to-country route lines are not available for this commodity yet. Hover a circle for values.HS 291811: largest exporters
| Country | Share | Value (US$) | Tonnes |
|---|---|---|---|
| China | 21.2% | $139.7 m | 107k |
| Thailand | 19.3% | $127.7 m | 116k |
| Spain | 11% | $72.5 m | 32k |
| Belgium | 10.8% | $71.5 m | 31k |
| France | 10.5% | $69.5 m | 30k |
| United States | 5.5% | $36.4 m | 11k |
| Germany | 4.9% | $32.4 m | 7,056 |
| Brazil | 4.1% | $26.8 m | 19k |
HS 291811: largest importers
| Country | Share | Value (US$) | Tonnes |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States | 11.1% | $83.2 m | 25k |
| Spain | 9.9% | $74.4 m | – |
| Germany | 7.8% | $58.4 m | 25k |
| Italy | 6.2% | $46.5 m | 13k |
| South Korea | 5.4% | $40.5 m | – |
| Japan | 5.1% | $38.3 m | 21k |
| China | 4.6% | $34.4 m | 18k |
| Mexico | 3.9% | $29.4 m | – |
HS 390770: largest exporters
| Country | Share | Value (US$) | Tonnes |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States | 35.7% | $179.4 m | 74k |
| Thailand | 26% | $130.8 m | 57k |
| Netherlands | 24.1% | $121.2 m | 45k |
| China | 9.3% | $46.7 m | 19k |
| Belgium | 1% | $4.87 m | 1,951 |
| Japan | 0.5% | $2.46 m | – |
| South Korea | 0.5% | $2.35 m | – |
| Switzerland | 0.4% | $1.80 m | – |
HS 390770: largest importers
| Country | Share | Value (US$) | Tonnes |
|---|---|---|---|
| China | 26.6% | $124.6 m | 50k |
| Netherlands | 17.7% | $82.9 m | 33k |
| Italy | 10.3% | $48.4 m | 18k |
| Germany | 7.5% | $35.4 m | 12k |
| South Korea | 5.6% | $26.1 m | – |
| United States | 4.6% | $21.4 m | 4,941 |
| Japan | 2.9% | $13.5 m | 4,768 |
| France | 2.8% | $13.2 m | – |
How it moves
| Measure | Figure | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Share traded | high: Thai and US plants serve the world; to be confirmed with UN Comtrade HS 390770 and 291811 | ||
| How it moves | PLA pellets in 25 kg bags and 1 t big bags by container; must be kept dry because moisture degrades it in processing. Lactic acid moves as 80-90% solution in drums, IBCs and ISO tanks. | ||
| Routes and chokepoints | Thailand and US to Europe, Japan, India and the Americas; China to Asia. | ||
| India | . India imports all its PLA today (indicative). HS 291811: India imported $10 million (1.3% of world imports, rank 19) and exported $5 million (0.8% of world exports, rank 12); HS 390770: India imported $10 million (2.0% of world imports, rank 9) and exported $249 thousand (0.0% of world exports, rank 22) (UN Comtrade 2024). | ||
| Handling in transit | PLA is not dangerous goods. Concentrated lactic acid is corrosive, UN3265 class 8 in some solutions (indicative). |