By the end of 2009, China’s annual production capacity of concentrated nitric acid was about 2.50 million tons. Meanwhile, there were over 30 concentrated nitric acid producers in China, of which 14 producers possess the annual production capacity of 100,000 tons or above.
The global financial crisis in 2008 led to the depression of the whole chemical market in China. At the beginning of 2009, a great many enterprises stopped the nitric acid production, resulting in the reduction of market resources. During the downturn of the chemical sector, Chinese nitric acid market took the initiative to raise the price and enhance promotion to whip up the situation for almost half a year. Though the price fluctuated a little within the period, the market prosperity was maintained to July 2009.
In 2009-2010, Chinese newly added production capacity of concentrated nitric acid was about 300,000 tons. However, with the release of the Emission Standard of Pollutants for Nitric Acid Industry at the end of 2009, the production devices of nitric acid by normal pressure method, which contribute 11% to the aggregate production capacity, will be stopped due to the failure in meeting the emission standard. Thus, the production capacity of concentrated nitric acid in 2010 will be the same as that in 2009, that is, 2.50 million tons. Besides, in accordance with this standard, other unqualified production devices also need reconstruction. The reconstruction and overhaul of devices will lead to the further reduction of the actual supply in China. As the nitric acid is a corrosive strong acid that cannot be stored easily, the import and export volumes are small. Thus, the production basically equals the domestic consumption. In 2009, the production of concentrated nitric acid in China totaled about 2.06 million tons, rising by 10.70% YOY.








