Although the global polyacrylamide market showed signs of contraction in 2009 due to the impact of the financial crisis, it is expected to gradually recover from 2011 onwards; by 2015, the market size is projected to reach US$2.51 billion. The primary drivers for this market growth include the recovery of downstream industries, environmental protection policy mandates, profits generated by technical services related to the product, and the rapid expansion of emerging markets.
In 2012, the major application sectors for polyacrylamide in my country included oil extraction, water treatment, papermaking, superabsorbent resins, metallurgy, and coal washing. The consumption structure was distributed as follows: oilfield extraction accounted for 81%, water treatment for 9%, papermaking for 5%, mining for 2%, and other sectors for 3%. Oil extraction represents the largest consumption sector for polyacrylamide in my country, accounting for 81% of total domestic consumption. Water treatment constitutes the second-largest consumption sector; currently, my country's urban sewage treatment rate stands at less than 30%, while the reuse rate for industrial water is 60% and the treatment rate for industrial wastewater is 77%-figures that reveal a significant gap when compared to developed nations. As a flocculant, the consumption of polyacrylamide is expected to continue rising in my country's urban water treatment sector, as well as in the wastewater treatment processes of industries such as chemicals, metallurgy, papermaking, printing and dyeing, sugar refining, MSG production, coal mining, and construction materials. Furthermore, it is finding increasing application in fields such as superabsorbent resins, cement enhancers, adhesives, and leather retanning agents.
For the papermaking industry, polyacrylamide primarily serves as a binder for pulp fibers and additives, or is utilized in wastewater treatment. In contrast to the mature markets of Europe and North America, the growth momentum observed in China, South America, India, and other Asia-Pacific markets is encouraging. However, due to a general flattening of economic growth and the lingering effects of the European debt crisis, the growth rate of paper production has slowed, thereby hindering the expansion of the polyacrylamide market. Additionally, the papermaking industry itself is characterized by a relatively low level of technological sophistication and fairly stable market demand; consequently, this limits the profit margins that polyacrylamide products can generate within this specific sector.
Furthermore, polyacrylamide plays a pivotal role in both municipal sewage treatment and industrial wastewater treatment applications. Increasingly stringent regulations have spurred the growth of the water treatment industry; the municipal wastewater treatment sector, in particular, has not only remained unaffected by the financial crisis but has instead demonstrated strong growth momentum. New markets for municipal wastewater treatment have emerged in the North African region-including countries such as Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, and Egypt-while other nations, such as Saudi Arabia and Qatar, are significantly increasing their investments in the privatization of water treatment facilities. In the realm of industrial wastewater treatment, coal mining and the construction of thermal power plants present substantial business opportunities, while the growing focus on water reclamation and reuse technologies serves as an additional market driver.
