# Sulphuric acid The most produced industrial chemical: a cheap strong acid made mostly by burning sulphur, essential for phosphate fertiliser, metal leaching and battery materials. Source page: https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/sulphuric_acid/ Commodity chemicals · Acids & alkalis · No. 1 - Single chemical - Feedstock: Minerals and salts - about 230 Mt a year (2025, derived: about 90% of 84 Mt sulphur in all forms consumed as acid x 3.06 t acid per t S); IndexBox records 131 Mt from reported national data (2024), which under-counts China - 0.1 t CO₂e per t - HS 280700 Commodity chemicals · Acids & alkalis · Foundation · Matter The world makes more sulphuric acid than any other chemical, and in 2026 its price in Chile doubled within two months. Chart: Illustration: Sulphuric acid ##### Where it comes from Chart: Map of where it comes from Nearly all acid comes from the contact process, turning SO2 from burnt sulphur or smelter fumes into SO3 over vanadium; about 90% of the sulphur behind it is recovered from gas and refining. ##### Three things to know 1. Each tonne of sulphur yields about 3 t of acid, so when sulphur jumped from $46/t in 2024 to $740/t in May 2026, acid followed. 2. Smelter acid is a by-product with almost no feedstock cost, so it can trade near zero, or even negative, at the smelter gate. 3. Chile imports the most acid, 3.6 Mt in 2024, because its copper leach mines cannot run without it. ##### The journey 1. 1 **Sulphur sources**Recovered from sour gas, refineries, smelters 2. 2 **Burning or capture**Sulphur burnt, or smelter SO2 captured 3. 3 **Contact process**SO2 turned to SO3 over vanadium 4. 4 **Absorption**SO3 absorbed in strong acid, steam exported 5. 5 **Shipping**Pipeline, rail and 10-40 kt tankers 6. 6 **End use**Fertiliser, copper and nickel leaching, chemicals Covered in [The chemical industry: what it makes and how it is organisedChemicals](https://www.materialinsights.org/learn/chemicals/chem-industry-map/)[How a chemical process works: reactions, separations, catalysts and flowsheetsChemicals](https://www.materialinsights.org/learn/chemicals/how-chemical-processes-work/)[The economics of a chemical plant: costs, prices and profitChemicals](https://www.materialinsights.org/learn/chemicals/plant-economics-costs-and-profit/)[Heavy inorganics: salt, sulphur, nitrogen and phosphorusChemicals](https://www.materialinsights.org/learn/chemicals/heavy-inorganic-chemicals/)[From building blocks to plastics, fibres and detergentsChemicals](https://www.materialinsights.org/learn/chemicals/building-blocks-to-polymers/)[Scale, capacity and feedstock: which chemical plants get builtChemicals](https://www.materialinsights.org/learn/chemicals/scale-capacity-feedstock/)and 7 more ##### Go deeper pick a tab to open it in full ## Other sections - [Overview](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/sulphuric_acid/overview/index.md) - [Correlation](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/sulphuric_acid/correlation/index.md) - [Production route](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/sulphuric_acid/routes/index.md) - [Production](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/sulphuric_acid/production/index.md) - [Feedstocks](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/sulphuric_acid/feedstocks/index.md) - [Cycles](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/sulphuric_acid/cycles/index.md) - [Trading](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/sulphuric_acid/trading/index.md) - [Movement](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/sulphuric_acid/movement/index.md) - [Regulation](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/sulphuric_acid/regulation/index.md) - [Characteristics](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/sulphuric_acid/characteristics/index.md) - [Emissions](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/sulphuric_acid/emissions/index.md) - [Relationships](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/sulphuric_acid/links/index.md)