According to industry research data, the global polyacrylamide market was valued at approximately USD 4.37 billion in 2025 and is expected to grow to USD 7.56 billion by 2034, representing a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.30%. Amid this wave of global water treatment industry upgrading, Jinmai, with its excellent product quality, professional technical services, and stable supply capacity, is becoming an important force in China's PAM export sector.
Polyacrylamide is a highly efficient water-soluble polymer, widely used in municipal wastewater treatment, industrial wastewater purification, oil extraction, papermaking, mining, and other fields due to its excellent flocculation, thickening, and drag reduction properties. With the acceleration of global urbanization and industrialization, the demand for clean water resources is increasing daily, driving the continued expansion of the PAM market.
From a regional perspective, the Asia-Pacific region is the world's largest PAM production and consumption market, accounting for 45% of the global market share in 2025. The rapid industrialization and urbanization of countries such as China and India, along with increasingly stringent environmental regulations, are the core drivers of regional market growth. At the same time, water scarcity in the Middle East has created huge demand for seawater desalination and water reuse; the European and North American markets, driven by strict environmental regulations, continue to increase procurement of high-efficiency water treatment chemicals.
From an application perspective, water treatment is the largest end-use market for PAM, accounting for more than 36%. Among this, municipal wastewater treatment has particularly strong demand for cationic PAM for sludge dewatering and efficiency improvement; industrial wastewater treatment relies on anionic PAM to remove suspended solids and heavy metal ions. In addition, enhanced oil recovery applications in the oil extraction industry, tailings treatment in mining, and retention and drainage aid in the papermaking industry all provide sustained and stable sources of demand for PAM.
Since 2026, the global water treatment chemicals market has shown three positive signals, creating favorable conditions for China's PAM exports.
First, environmental protection policies in various countries continue to intensify. With the in-depth advancement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 6—Clean Water and Sanitation—more than 100 countries worldwide have designated water treatment as a priority development area. The revised EU Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive requires member states to achieve full tertiary treatment by 2035, significantly increasing demand for high-efficiency flocculants. China's 14th Five-Year Plan for Environmental Protection calls for adding 12 million tons per day of sewage treatment capacity, directly driving PAM consumption growth.
Second, infrastructure demand in countries along the Belt and Road is strong. The Middle East, Southeast Asia, Africa, and other regions are in a peak period of infrastructure construction. Major projects such as Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030, Egypt's New Administrative Capital, and Indonesia's new capital Nusantara all require large quantities of water treatment chemicals. According to industry observations, single contract volumes for PAM in the Middle East generally exceed 4,000 tons, and customers have a strong willingness to accept prices for high-quality products.
Third, the global competitiveness of China's PAM industry continues to strengthen. China is the world's largest producer of polyacrylamide, accounting for more than 60% of global production capacity, with exports reaching approximately 380,000 tons in 2025. As domestic enterprises continue to increase R&D investment, domestically produced PAM has approached or reached international advanced levels in key indicators such as molecular weight distribution, dissolution rate, and flocculation efficiency, with significant cost-effectiveness advantages. From January to May 2026, China's PAM exports continued their growth trend, with the trade surplus further expanding.
Against the backdrop of the booming global PAM market, Jinmai continues to win the trust of international customers with the following five core advantages:
Jinmai's PAM product line covers four major series: anionic, cationic, non-ionic, and amphoteric, with molecular weights ranging from 5 million to 25 million, meeting diverse needs across different industries:
Anionic PAM: Suitable for wastewater treatment where suspended particles carry positive charges, such as steel, electroplating, and coal washing industries. Offers fast flocculation speed and significant effects.
Cationic PAM: Specifically designed for sludge dewatering and organic wastewater treatment, widely used in municipal wastewater treatment plants, papermaking, printing and dyeing, food processing, and other industries.
Non-ionic PAM: Suitable for acidic and alkaline wastewater treatment, performing excellently in oilfield drilling, soil improvement, and other applications.
Amphoteric PAM: Possesses both anionic and cationic characteristics, suitable for complex water quality treatment such as landfill leachate and chemical wastewater.
Jinmai has established a full-process quality control system covering raw material procurement, manufacturing, and finished product testing. The company has introduced industry-leading production equipment and testing instruments to ensure that key indicators such as solid content, molecular weight, dissolution rate, and residual monomer content for each batch meet or exceed international standards.
In terms of safety and environmental protection, Jinmai strictly complies with the requirements of EU REACH regulations and the US NSF standard for drinking water treatment agents, with residual acrylamide monomer content controlled below 0.05%, making the products safe for use in drinking water purification scenarios. This quality advantage has enabled Jinmai products to successfully enter the European and North American markets, which have extremely strict access requirements for chemicals.
Leveraging China's complete industrial chain support and large-scale production advantages, Jinmai's PAM products offer significant cost-effectiveness advantages while maintaining high quality. Taking cationic PAM as an example, the dosage required to achieve the same flocculation effect with Jinmai products can be 15%–20% lower than with European and American brands, with comprehensive usage costs reduced by 10%–15%.
In terms of dissolution rate, Jinmai's specialty PAM products can fully dissolve in just 5–10 minutes, saving 70% of dissolution time compared to traditional products, greatly improving convenience and efficiency for customers' on-site operations. This advantage is particularly prominent for industries with high requirements for processing timeliness, such as mining and oil extraction.
Jinmai has an experienced international trade team familiar with import policies and quality standards of various countries, capable of providing customers with one-stop services covering the entire process from sample testing, order confirmation, production scheduling, export customs clearance, to international shipping.
Leveraging important ports such as Qingdao Port, Tianjin Port, and Shanghai Port, Jinmai has established a logistics network covering major markets including Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Europe, and South America, ensuring that products can be delivered to global customers quickly and safely. For urgent orders, Jinmai can complete production and arrange shipment within 7 days.
Jinmai deeply understands the differences in water quality standards, climatic conditions, and usage habits across countries and regions, and can provide customized product solutions based on customers' specific water quality characteristics and treatment objectives.
Whether it is sludge dewatering in the high-temperature, high-humidity environment of Southeast Asia, flocculation treatment in the high-salinity water conditions of the Middle East, or drinking water purification under low-temperature conditions in Europe, Jinmai's technical team can ensure optimal product performance through precise product selection recommendations and on-site commissioning support. This integrated "product + service" solution model has become a core competitive advantage that distinguishes Jinmai from ordinary suppliers.
Rapid urbanization and increasingly stringent environmental regulations in Southeast Asia are driving sustained growth in the construction and upgrading of municipal wastewater treatment plants. Countries such as Indonesia, Vietnam, and Thailand have strong import demand for PAM. With stable supply capabilities and competitive prices, Jinmai's market share in this region is steadily increasing.
The Middle East suffers from extreme water scarcity, making seawater desalination and water reuse key government investment areas. Large-scale water treatment projects in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and other countries have strong demand for high-quality PAM. Jinmai products have been successfully applied in several municipal wastewater treatment and oilfield produced water treatment projects in the region, receiving high praise from customers.
Africa is in a period of rapid urbanization, with the urbanization rate growing at approximately 3.5% per year, leading to explosive growth in demand for drinking water treatment and sewage treatment. Jinmai is actively expanding into the African market, with products exported to Egypt, Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, and other countries, becoming an important supplier for local water treatment projects.
Countries such as Chile, Peru, and Brazil have developed mining industries with huge demand for PAM in tailings treatment and mineral flotation applications. Jinmai has developed specialty PAM products tailored to the high turbidity and high salinity characteristics of mining wastewater, offering stable performance and good flocculation effects, earning a strong reputation in the South American market.
Standing at a new starting point for the upgrading of the global water treatment industry, Jinmai will continue to uphold its development philosophy of "technological innovation, quality first, customer foremost," continuously increasing R&D investment, optimizing product mix, and deepening international market presence.
Looking to the future, Jinmai will focus on the following priorities: first, accelerating the R&D and industrialization of high-end specialty PAM products to meet the needs of high-end application areas such as oil extraction, mining, and papermaking; second, enhancing localized service capabilities in overseas markets by establishing warehousing and sales service centers in key markets; third, continuing to promote green manufacturing, reducing energy consumption and emissions in the production process, and providing customers with more environmentally friendly and lower-carbon product options.
Industry analysts predict that driven by multiple factors such as global water scarcity, tightening environmental policies, and infrastructure projects under the Belt and Road Initiative, the global PAM market will maintain an average annual growth rate of 5%–7% from 2026 to 2030. Jinmai will seize this historic opportunity, embrace the global market with a more open and pragmatic attitude, provide customers around the world with even better quality PAM products and professional services, and write an even more brilliant chapter in the global water treatment chemicals market.
About Jinmai
Jinmai is a comprehensive enterprise specializing in the R&D, production, and export of water treatment chemicals. The company's main products are polyacrylamide (PAM) series, widely used in municipal wastewater treatment, industrial wastewater purification, oil extraction, mining, papermaking, and other fields. With stable product quality, professional technical services, and an efficient supply chain system, Jinmai products have been exported to more than 30 countries and regions worldwide, making the company a quality supplier in the field of water treatment chemicals.
Customers worldwide are welcome to inquire and discuss cooperation. Let us seek common development and achieve win-win outcomes!
