H-Acid Price Soars 400% to Record High in China, Squeezing Global Dye and Textile Supply

On September 19, 2026, Tianjin Yadong Longxing International Trade, the sales arm of Chinese chemical maker Yadong Group, raised its ex-factory price for H-acid to 200,000 yuan (roughly $28,000) per ton. This is a record for the dye intermediate and five times the level seen in January, when the product traded at around 40,000 yuan per ton. The new quote is also 50,000 yuan higher than the mainstream price recorded in early September. The move marks the latest step in a rally that has lasted all year and is now spreading from chemical plants to dye makers, textile dyeing mills and, ultimately, clothing brands.

H-acid is a naphthalene-based chemical used to build the color molecules of reactive dyes, acid dyes and direct dyes. Reactive dyes are the standard choice for cotton, linen and other plant fibers because they bond with the fiber and resist washing, while acid dyes are mainly used on wool, silk and nylon. Making one ton of reactive dye requires about 0.2 ton of H-acid, and the intermediate represents between 30% and 50% of the production cost of these dyes. More than 90% of global H-acid output goes into dyes, with smaller volumes used in pigments, pharmaceuticals and paper. The industry has almost no practical substitute, which leaves dye makers fully exposed to its price.

China dominates the market. The country produced about 77,000 tons of H-acid in 2024 and exported roughly 20,500 tons, mostly to India, where local plants run far below their nominal capacity. As a result, operating decisions at a handful of Chinese factories shape the availability of reactive dyes for textile industries across Asia, Europe and the Americas.

The price climb has been steady and then sharp. After a quiet start to the year, two producers in Dachaidan, in Qinghai province, halted units for maintenance in late January. By mid-April, prices were approaching 70,000 yuan per ton. On July 28, the industry average jumped from 61,000 to 80,000 yuan per ton in a single day, and Dachaidan Hexin Technology lifted its own quote to 100,000 yuan. In early September, the mainstream price reached 150,000 yuan per ton, up 275% since January, before Yadong pushed it to 200,000 yuan on September 19.

Demand has not exploded. The surge is driven by a supply base that keeps shrinking. China's nominal H-acid capacity stands at about 100,000 tons per year, but effective capacity is below 60,000 tons, leaving a supply gap estimated at more than 10%. Several plants have been hit by incidents since 2025. A fire at Yadong's plant in Wuhai, Inner Mongolia, in April 2025 left its lines unable to return to full output. An explosion damaged a 4,500-ton nitration workshop at Liyuan Technology. Runtu's H-acid unit has spent long periods offline since May 2023, Hubei Chuyuan cut output during an environmental overhaul, and Shandong Yuyuan halted 10,000 tons of capacity under pollution controls.

Regulation is the other major factor. H-acid production includes nitration, a hazardous reaction step that Chinese authorities closely monitor. In March 2024, the Ministry of Emergency Management ordered producers of 27 chemicals, including H-acid, to replace older batch nitration equipment with continuous processes by March 2026. Plants that were not ready had to stop and upgrade, and some industry estimates put the affected capacity at around 35,000 tons per year. Fatal nitration explosions at other Chinese chemical sites in 2025 reinforced strict enforcement. The process also generates highly acidic, salty wastewater that is difficult to treat, so environmental inspections regularly cap operating rates. Higher costs for chemical raw materials and energy consumption limits have added further pressure.

The market structure amplifies every shortage. The main producers are Yadong Group, whose Wuhai plant has a designed capacity of 20,000 tons per year and is the largest supplier to the open market, Zhejiang Longsheng with about 20,000 tons mostly used in-house, Runtu with about 20,000 tons, Jihua Group with 20,000 tons partly sold to third parties, Yabang with about 28,000 tons largely feeding its own dye lines, and Jinji with 10,000 tons used almost entirely for its own production. Because much of this output is consumed internally, the volume actually traded is thin, and small disruptions trigger large price jumps.

The cost shock is now moving downstream. In early September, leading dye makers including Zhejiang Longsheng, Runtu and Yabang issued a wave of price increase notices. Disperse dyes, used on polyester, face a parallel squeeze because reductone, their key intermediate, climbed from about 25,000 yuan per ton at the end of 2025 to between 100,000 and 120,000 yuan per ton. Longsheng and Runtu had already raised disperse dye prices twice in July. Underlying demand remains firm, with Chinese textile and apparel exports reaching $174.75 billion between January and July 2026, up 2.4% year on year, and the autumn and winter restocking season now underway.

For buyers outside China, the impact is direct. Indian dye makers depend on Chinese H-acid imports, and textile mills in South and Southeast Asia rely heavily on Chinese reactive dyes. Higher dye costs squeeze the margins of printing and dyeing plants, which operate on thin profits, and are likely to raise the cost of cotton fabrics and finished garments in the coming months.

As of September 21, 2026, the situation remains active. Industry analysts expect a concentrated round of dye price increases over the next one to two months, with the extra cost passed on to printing and dyeing factories. Relief will depend on how quickly idled plants complete their safety upgrades and restart, and on how much cost dyeing mills can absorb. If mills start losing money and cut operating rates, weaker demand could eventually cool prices, but supply is expected to stay tight in the near term.