Hydrofluoric Acid Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2022 - 2027)

The market for hydrofluoric acid is expected to grow at a CAGR of over 5%, during the forecast period. The major factor driving the market studied is increasing demand from the chemical processing industry. On the flip side, the highly toxic and corrosive nature of hydrofluoric acid and unfavorable conditions arising due to the COVID-19 outbreak are hindering the growth of the market.

Key Highlights

• The use of fluoropolymers in emerging energy storage technologies, including fuel cells, batteries, and supercapacitors, are offering various opportunities for the growth of the market.
• The chemical processing industry is expected to dominate the global hydrofluoric acid market over the forecast period.
• Asia-Pacific region represents the largest market and is also expected to be the fastest-growing market over the forecast period owing to the increasing consumption from countries such as China, India, and Japan.

Key Market Trends

Increasing Demand from Chemical Processing Industry

• Hydrofluoric acid is used in the chemical processing industry as a cleaning agent, etching agent, in the production of fluorides such as cryolite, sodium fluoride, aluminum trifluoride, and in production of organofluorine compounds such as fluoropolymers, fluorocarbons, freons, etc. The global chemical processing industry is anticipated to grow at a CAGR of about 5%, during the forecast period.
• In laboratories and industrial settings, hydrofluoric acid can be used for etching glass and enamel, removing rust, and cleaning brass and crystal.
• The global market for fluoropolymers, where hydrofluoric acid is majorly used in the production process, is expected to grow at a CAGR of more than 5%, during the forecast period, owing to its supreme chemical resistance and thermal characteristics, and growing demand for non-stick cookware, and increasing applications in the electrical and electronics sector.
• Similarly, rising usage in sealing applications and penetration into newer applications in a wide range of end-user industries, will drive the global market for fluorocarbons, which is expected to grow at a CAGR of about 6%, during the forecast period.
• Hence, the chemical processing industry is expected to dominate the global hydrofluoric acid market over the forecast period.

Asia-Pacific Region to Dominate the Market

• Asia-Pacific region is expected to be the dominant market in hydrofluoric acid consumption. This is because the region dominates the market for the end-user industries such as chemical processing, pharmaceuticals, and electronics.
• Asia-Pacific is also expected to be the fastest-growing market during the forecast period, owing to the demand from applications like oil refining, cleaning agent, etching agent, etc.
• The Asian chemical processing industry, where hydrofluoric acid is used in a variety of applications, is expected to grow at a CAGR of more than 5%, with China, Japan, and India dominating the market, region wise.
• Hydrofluoric acid acts as a precursor to medicines such as Prozac, thus, indicating a regular demand from the region's pharmaceutical industry, which is the third-largest in the world after the United States and Europe, owing to the region's size of the population, especially the older population, GDP per capita, health expenditures, regulatory systems, and disease incidence, among others.
• The Asian electronics market is expected to grow at a CAGR of more than 5%, during the forecast period, with China, Japan, India and South Korea amongst the top 10 global electronics manufacturers. In the electronics industry, hydrofluoric acid is the key chemical in the manufacture of silicon-based semi-conductor devices.
• Thus, Asia-Pacific region represents the largest market and is also expected to be the fastest-growing market over the forecast period, owing to the increasing consumption from the various end-user industries.

Competitive Landscape

The global hydrofluoric acid market is fragmented with the presence of both international and domestic players. The major companies of the market studied include Fluorchemie Group, Honeywell International Inc., LANXESS, Solvay, and Yingpeng Group, among others.

Additional Benefits:

• The market estimate (ME) sheet in Excel format
• 3 months of analyst support