Anhydrous Hydrofluoric Acid (AHF), the colourless gaseous liquid used in the chemicals industry, has seen significant growth in China in the recent year, supported by wide application scopes and growing demand in worldwide markets.

China's AHF Price from December 2016 - December 2017

Source: CCM

According to market intelligence firm CCM, the price of AHF in China witnessed a growth in December 2017 again, rebounding from the fall in November before. The analysts are of the opinion, that the price will continue to grow in the next months as well. 

The average price of China’s AHF was around USD1,830/t at the end of November, climbing to more than USD1,846/t in the first half of December. During the third week of December, the price even reached almost USD1,870/t. The export volume rose along with the price, meeting the high demand overseas. 

CCM predicts China's AHF price will continue to rise in the next months, due to the rising fluorite price caused by falling supply in North China as well as an increasingly lower operating rate in northern China's AHF industry as a result of air pollution treatment. 

Anhydrous Hydrofluoric Acid is processed by using the reaction of Fluorspar & Sulphuric acid. The key countries for the production of AHF are the United States, Germany, China and Japan. 

The anhydrous part of the chemical indicates, that it contains no water. It is the building-block material for the production of fluorine and fluorine-containing products such as fluorochemicals, fluoropolymers and surfactants. 

The chemical is widely used in different industrial areas such as the chemical industry and petroleum industry. It is known to be the basic material of inorganic as well as organic fluoride, used mainly to produce fluorine elements and fluoro-refrigerants. It is also used as an intermediate for the manufacture of Fluorocarbons such as the refrigerant gases HFC and HFCC. 

Hydrofluoric acid, the solution of Anhydrous hydrogen fluoride, is mainly used in the production of refrigerants and villiaumite, as well as the production of metal casting parts, fluoro-plastic, pesticides and drugs and more. With this broad application range, hydrofluoric acid enjoys enormous developing space and market prospect in the near future. 

With the slowdown in world economic growth, the Anhydrous Hydrofluoric Acid industry has also suffered a certain impact, but still maintained a relatively optimistic growth, the past years. Market experts believe that in the next few years, Anhydrous Hydrofluoric Acid market size will be further expanded. 

CCM is China’s leading market intelligence provider for the fields of agriculture, chemicals, and food & feed.

For more information on China’s AHF or general fluoride market, please have a look at CCM’s monthly published newsletter with insights into market trends, company dynamics, policy changes, and much more. You can also explore CCM’s market research reports for the fluoride situation in China.  

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