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Acrylamide is a water-soluble monomer
that is consumed mainly in the production
of polyacrylamide. Approximately 93% of the world’s acrylamide capacity
is accounted for by the United States, Western Europe, Japan and China. The
world acrylamide market was worth approximately $2 billion in 2006.
The following chart shows consumption of acrylamide by end use:
Consumption of polyacrylamide for wastewater treatment is the largest end-use
market for acrylamide on a global basis. Use in enhanced oil recovery (EOR)
will be the fastest-growing market segment.
Water treatment will be growing fastest in China, averaging almost 6% per
year, compared with Western Europe at 3.5% per year, and the United States
at 3.0% per year. Japan’s consumption for water treatment will decline
slightly at –1% per year. Enhanced oil recovery (EOR) is the largest
segment in China, accounting for more than 93% of the world’s consumption
for this market. EOR remains a potential growth segment in the United States,
but the price of oil has not yet justified significant use. During 2006–2011,
consumption is expected to grow at an average rate of 5.0% per year in China,
2.7% per year in Western Europe, 2.4% per year in the United States, –0.4%
in Japan and 4–5% per year in the rest of the world. |
