China’s nitric acid and ammonium nitrate industry operated at low levels last year

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The 25th National \"Safety Production Month\" in 2026: Everyone talks about safety, and everyone knows how to handle emergencies; identifying and addressing risks and hazards. -------------------------------------------------- From June 16th to 17th, the 2026 work conference for the nitric acid and ammonium nitrate industry was held in the mountain city of Chongqing. Gu Zongqin, legal representative of the China Nitrogen Fertilizer Industry Association, pointed out that against the backdrop of the industry’s overall development, China’s nitric acid and ammonium nitrate industries are facing increasing operational pressures and a shrinking profit margin, with the market remaining in a low-status condition for a long time. The total production continues to increase. In 2025, the production capacity and output of the nitric acid industry in our country will continue to show slight growth. According to statistics from the China Nitrogen Fertilizer Industry Association, in 2025 China will see an increase in nitric acid production capacity of 1.05 million tons per year, bringing the total capacity to 22.34 million tons per year – a 1.5% increase compared to the previous year, representing the highest level in over a decade. Among them, the production capacity utilizing the double-pressure process is 21.34 million tons per year, accounting for 95.5% of the total production capacity. By the end of 2025, China had a total of 78 nitric acid production enterprises and 123 nitric acid production facilities. The output of nitric acid reached 16.555 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 7.0%. According to statistics, by 2025 the new ammonium nitrate production capacity will be 900,000 tons per year, primarily resulting from capacity replacement and renovation projects. The total ammonium nitrate production capacity will then be 10.26 million tons per year, of which 7.3 million tons per year will be in the form of commercial ammonium nitrate. In 2025, China’s ammonium nitrate production will be 6.464 million tons, representing a 0.8% increase on a year-on-year basis. Among them, the production of commercial ammonium nitrate was 4.524 million tons, a decrease of 5.8% on a year-on-year basis. The output of ammonium nitrate in all forms saw varying degrees of decline. The production volumes of porous, industrial, and liquid ammonium nitrate were 1.145 million tons, 828,000 tons, and 2.551 million tons respectively, representing year-on-year decreases of 3.1%, 19.1%, and 1.8% respectively. In 2025, the overall output of nitro fertilizers saw a significant increase; the production of ternary nitro compound fertilizers reached 4.060 million tons, a year-on-year rise of 16.5% ； The output of urea ammonium nitrate solution reached 381,000 tons, a year-on-year increase of 289.7% ； The output of calcium ammonium nitrate reached 3.02 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 8.2% ； Calcium nitrate production reached 720,000 tons, a year-on-year increase of 2.9% ； Magnesium nitrate production reached 480,000 tons, a year-on-year increase of 37% ； Potassium nitrate production reached 1.33 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 19.3%. The price of ammonium nitrate continues to decline. Over the past year, domestic ammonium nitrate prices have continued to decline, falling to their lowest level since 2021. According to statistics from the China Nitrogen Fertilizer Industry Association, the average ex-factory price of porous ammonium nitrate in 2025 was 2,040 yuan per ton, a year-on-year decrease of 11.3% ； The average ex-plant price of industrial ammonium nitrate was 1,773 yuan per ton, a decrease of 20.4% year-on-year ； The average ex-plant price of liquid ammonium nitrate was 1,872 yuan per ton, a decrease of 16.9% on a year-on-year basis. Entering 2026, the downward trend in the market persists, with prices continuing to hit new lows. In some northern regions, the ex-factory price of ammonium nitrate has dropped to 1,600 yuan per ton. The main reason for the price drop is the imbalance between supply and demand. Currently, China’s production capacity for commercial ammonium nitrate has reached 7.3 million tons per year, while the actual market demand remains at only about 4 million tons. This oversupply has driven down market prices. Meanwhile, the production layout of ammonium nitrate exhibits a clear tendency toward regional concentration. The five northern provinces—Shanxi, Henan, Inner Mongolia, and Xinjiang—account for 58% of the country’s total output. In certain markets, issues such as homogeneous competition and cut-throat price wars are particularly prominent. The level of technological innovation is continuously improving. Over the past year, the entire industry has adhered to innovation-driven development. It is mainly reflected in the following aspects: first, the continuous optimization of new production processes for products. The process uses nitric acid instead of sulfuric acid to decompose phosphate rock, producing products such as monoammonium phosphate, industrial phosphoric acid, and nitrophosphate fertilizer. Meanwhile, various medium and trace elements contained in the phosphate rock are efficiently recovered and utilized. This process effectively addresses the constraints on sulfur resource supply, eliminates phosphogypsum pollution at its source, improves the comprehensive utilization rate of resources, and achieves clean production while reducing costs and increasing efficiency ； Second, we continue to advance the technological transformation from gasoline to electric power. Currently, a total of 8 nitric acid four-in-one units across the industry have undergone conversion to turbine-driven electric motors. Taking the 150,000-ton/year nitric acid unit as an example, this conversion helps save 11,369 tons of standard coal annually, reduce CO₂ emissions by 33,472 tons, and generate additional economic benefits exceeding 6 million yuan. The energy-saving and efficiency-enhancing effects are quite significant ； Third, we are actively promoting digital and intelligent transformation. By establishing an intelligent control system for nitric acid production units and an intelligent optimization control system for equipment, precise regulation of production processes is achieved; the time required for equipment startup and calibration is reduced by over 50%, while overall energy consumption is decreased by around 30%. This leads to an improvement in the efficiency of ammonia oxidation and a reduction in emissions of pollutants in the exhaust gases ； Fourth, domestic substitution is advancing steadily. Domestically produced high-speed motors have been successfully applied in nitric acid \"four-in-one\" units, and domestically developed catalysts for reducing nitrous oxide emissions have been put into industrial trial use. Progress on green and low-carbon initiatives is advancing smoothly. It is reported that on August 25, 2025, three departments including the Ministry of Ecology and Environment jointly issued the \"Action Plan for Controlling Nitrous Oxide Emissions in the Industrial Sector,\" which sets clear requirements for a continuous reduction in the nitrous oxide emissions per unit of product in the industries of nitric acid, adipic acid, and caprolactam by 2030, so as to reach internationally leading levels. The release of the plan marks the entry of nitrous oxide control in China’s industrial sector into a phase of substantive implementation. The production of nitric acid, adipic acid, and caprolactam is the main source of nitrous oxide emissions in China’s industrial sector, with annual emissions equivalent to about 200 million tons of carbon dioxide. Some enterprises actively implement the **policy requirements and carry out nitrous oxide emission reduction efforts in an orderly manner. According to statistics, 5 nitric acid manufacturers have currently installed catalysts for reducing nitrous oxide emissions in their furnaces; these catalysts achieve an emission reduction efficiency of over 85%, resulting in an annual reduction of approximately 2.5 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalents ； Four adipic acid manufacturers have installed nitrous oxide emission reduction catalysts, achieving an emission reduction efficiency of over 99%. At the same time, the development of domestic emission-reduction technologies is accelerating; the emission-reduction catalysis technologies developed by companies such as CNOOC Taiyuan Precious Metals, Sichuan Shutai, and Henan Shenma have successively entered the industrial trial phase, providing technical support for large-scale emission reduction in this industry.