Sizing Agents Market - Global Industry Size, Share, Trends, Opportunity, and Forecast, 2021-2031

The Global Sizing Agents Market is projected to expand from USD 4.38 Billion in 2025 to USD 5.61 Billion by 2031, registering a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.21%. These chemical additives are essential for enhancing the water resistance, surface strength, and printability of paper, cardboard, and textiles. Growth is largely propelled by the booming global packaging sector, where the surge in e-commerce demands robust and moisture-resistant shipping materials. Additionally, the textile industry depends on these agents to boost yarn weaving efficiency and ensure fabric durability during processing, ensuring steady demand for internal and surface sizing chemistries regardless of fleeting consumer trends.

However, strict environmental regulations concerning the toxicity and disposal of synthetic additives create significant hurdles, compelling manufacturers to adhere to intricate compliance frameworks. The sector's success is intricately tied to heavy industrial output and the health of manufacturing. Data from the Confederation of European Paper Industries highlights this dependency, revealing that total European paper and board production rose by 5.2 percent in 2024, driven by a 6.5 percent increase in packaging grades. This evidence emphasizes how closely sizing agent consumption relies on the robust performance of the wider paper and packaging industries.

Market Drivers

The escalating demand for paper-based packaging within the e-commerce sector serves as a primary engine for the sizing agents market. As online retail volumes grow, producers need sophisticated surface sizing formulations to bolster the water resistance, printability, and physical durability of corrugated boards and shipping cartons. This momentum is supported by the industrial necessity for materials that withstand complex logistics without losing structural integrity. According to the American Forest & Paper Association's May 2025 report, total U.S. paper and paperboard production rose by 3.2 percent in 2024, fueled significantly by strong results in the containerboard segment, directly necessitating increased sizing agent application to meet quality standards.

Furthermore, the growth of the global textile and apparel manufacturing industry stimulates market expansion, as sizing agents are vital for enhancing weaving efficiency and yarn abrasion resistance. Manufacturers are ramping up output to satisfy recovering international demand, thereby boosting chemical consumption in fabric processing. The China National Textile and Apparel Council reported in January 2025 that China's textile and apparel exports hit US$301.1 billion in 2024, a 2.8 percent year-on-year increase. Additionally, the migration of manufacturing to emerging economies continues to drive regional demand; the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service noted in December 2025 that Bangladesh imported 8.05 million bales of cotton in the 2024/25 marketing year, highlighting the massive scale of substrate processing that requires sizing treatments.

Market Challenges

Rigorous environmental regulations concerning the toxicity and disposal of synthetic chemical additives present a major barrier to the Global Sizing Agents Market's expansion. Manufacturers are under mounting pressure to remove cost-effective yet ecologically damaging synthetic compounds from their product lines to satisfy intricate international compliance standards. This shift compels companies to allocate significant capital toward modifying production facilities and performing costly toxicity tests instead of investing in capacity growth. Consequently, the elevated operational expenses linked to regulatory compliance compress profit margins and diminish the financial feasibility of scaling up production for conventional sizing chemistries.

The direct consequence of this regulatory pressure is visible in the dampened industrial output of the chemical manufacturing sector, the primary source of these agents. According to the European Chemical Industry Council (Cefic), chemical capacity utilization in the EU27 region stagnated at roughly 75 percent in 2024, a figure notably below the long-term historical average, largely due to high regulatory and energy costs. This underutilization suggests that manufacturers are limiting production volumes to manage risk and expense, which directly impedes the supply elasticity and overall growth prospects of the sizing agents market.

Market Trends

The market is observing a clear shift toward specialized sizing chemistries designed specifically for recycled fiber substrates. As producers increasingly adopt post-consumer waste to reduce carbon footprints, they encounter technical hurdles like shorter fiber lengths and elevated impurity levels, which typically degrade paper strength and water resistance. In response, chemical suppliers are developing durable surface sizing agents and cationic polymers that maintain performance stability amidst high-anionic trash conditions. This emphasis on circularity is backed by rising industrial adoption of secondary fiber feedstocks; the Confederation of European Paper Industries (Cepi) noted in its February 2025 'Preliminary Statistics 2024' report that Paper for Recycling (PfR) utilization by the European paper industry rose by 4.1 percent in 2024, fueling demand for compatible process chemicals.

Simultaneously, there is a hastened move from fossil-based synthetic agents to bio-based and biodegradable sizing formulations. Driven by the necessity to lessen the environmental footprint of papermaking and textile processing, industry participants are replacing conventional petroleum-derived chemicals with renewable options like modified starches, chitosan, and plant-based emulsions. This transition is becoming pivotal to the operational strategies of major chemical producers seeking to separate growth from finite resource usage. Evidence of this strategic shift is apparent in the sourcing practices of key market players; in its 'Annual Review 2024' published in February 2025, Kemira reported that 52 percent of its total raw material volume used in 2024 comprised renewable or recycled materials, highlighting the rapid industrial scaling of sustainable chemical inputs.

Key Players Profiled in the Sizing Agents Market

• BASF SE
• Pulcra Chemicals GmbH
• Kemira OY
• Solenis LLC
• Buckman Laboratories International, Inc.
• Seiko PMC Corporation
• Evonik Corporation
• Avebe UA.
• Harima Chemicals Group, Inc.
• Indokem Ltd.

Report Scope

In this report, the Global Sizing Agents Market has been segmented into the following categories:

Sizing Agents Market, by Type:

• Natural
• Synthetic

Sizing Agents Market, by Application:

• Textile
• Paper & Paperboard
• Cosmetics
• Food & Beverage
• Others

Sizing Agents Market, by Region:

• North America
• Europe
• Asia-Pacific
• South America
• Middle East & Africa

Competitive Landscape

Company Profiles: Detailed analysis of the major companies present in the Global Sizing Agents Market.

Available Customization

The analyst offers customization according to your specific needs. The following customization options are available for the report:

• Detailed analysis and profiling of additional market players (up to five).

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