China’s oxalic acid market is gaining traction in early 2025, fueled by a rebound in construction machinery use and metal maintenance demand. With excavator sales surging and refurbishment activities on the rise, industrial demand for oxalic acid—used in rust removal and steel cleaning—is increasing across key regions. Supply remains tight due to environmental constraints on coal-based chemical production.
China's oxalic acid market is seeing fresh vigor in the first half of 2025, driven by increasing activity in the domestic metal fabrication and construction machinery industries. Industry commentators credit the increase with the growing maintenance and refurbishment requirements, especially for heavy machinery and metals used in infrastructure, where oxalic acid is an important industrial rust remover and cleaner for metals.
Latest statistics from the China Construction Machinery Association indicated domestic sales of excavators jumped close to 23% year-over-year between January and June. With excavators and associated heavy machinery building up for utilization on infrastructure and civil engineering projects, demand for effective rust and oxide removal chemicals such as oxalic acid has increased significantly. Market sources report that consumption of oxalic acid is moving upwards in industrial centers such as Shandong, Jiangsu, and Hebei.
Oxalic acid plays a key role in steel and alloy component cleaning and surface preparation, according to one Shanghai distributor of chemicals. With new building activity on the rise and old equipment refurbished for reuse, we are receiving more orders from metal processing facilities and maintenance companies.
The pick-up in construction activity comes after a long dip in the real estate sector, which had kept steel and allied chemical demand in the dumps. While total steel usage is predicted to dip by 2% this year, the recent pick-up in equipment usage has provided booster shots to auxiliary markets such as oxalic acid.
China's oxalic acid is predominantly manufactured through coal-based synthesis. The nation is the biggest manufacturer and exporter in the world, with domestic requirements fulfilled in textile, pharmaceutical, and metal treatment industries. But environmental limits imposed on coal-based chemical facilities have capped production facilities, constricting supply and modestly pushing prices up over the last few months.
With rebar and iron ore futures maintaining upward momentum on Shanghai and Dalian exchanges, market eyes are turning to downstream chemicals sustaining steel uptrend. Market players anticipate oxalic acid demand remaining robust through Q3, led by infrastructure restoration, railway maintenance, and industrial surface treatment work under state stimulus schemes.
With the wider economy stabilizing, oxalic acid is set to gain from China's drive to update and sustain its key construction and machinery foundation.
While construction-oriented demand continues to grow and government-led infrastructure renewal continues, oxalic acid will be a supporting chemical of prime importance in China's industrial rebound. As prices stabilize and applications extend into maintenance, steel, and rail industries, oxalic acid will be the winner from China's strategic emphasis on revitalizing old machinery and supporting long-term infrastructure strength.
