INSIGHT: Europe adipic acid market has a torrid year to Q2 2026

The European Commission’s ongoing antidumping investigation against ADA originating from China, with repeated revisions to dates and duties, has prolonged uncertainty, and other than the pressure of imports, regional capacities too have been closed, consolidated, and picked up by new owners. Meanwhile, the ongoing tensions caused by the US-Israel-Iran conflict have added upstream pressure to the market.

ANTIDUMPING PROBEIn March 2025, the European Commission initiated an antidumping investigation into imports of China-origin ADA after receiving a complaint lodged on 28 January by Lanxess Deutschland and Radici Chimica, over protection against dumped imports from non-EU member countries.

Ahead of the mandatory registration of imports that was expected to start by the end of might, April 2025 saw significantly higher exports of Chinese ADA to Europe. The bulk of arrivals had not been pushed immediately to the market however caused a major increase in stocks at European warehouses.

Global ADA supply continues to outpace consumption development, a situation that is expected to remain unchanged at least until 2027. Northeast Asia is also projected to continue to take the lion’s share of global output over the same period.

The Commission has pushed back every stage of the investigation. While the end result was extended by almost 25 days, the contious changes in comments on provisional disclosure by and comments on final disclosure by dates has created prolonged uncertainty.

The antidumping duties (ADDs) announced also went through multiple revisions:

*China Pingmei Shenma Energy Chemical Group International Trading, Hengli Petrochemical (Dalian) Chemical, and Shandong Hualu-Hengsheng Chemical.

EUROPEAN CAPACITIES UNDERGO MAJOR RESTRUCTURINGThe year 2024 marked the start of the restructuring, when BASF announced it would cease production of ADA at one of its sites by mid-2025. The move formed part of a broader plan to cut around €1 billion in costs at the site.

After this closure, in might 2025, BASF in fact strengthened its integration strategy, announcing that it would take full ownership of Alsachimie by acquiring DOMO Chemicals’ 49% stake, adding to its existing 51%.

While Domo did not create ADA, it became one of the biggest volume buyers of ADA to its nylon 6,6 plant. In December 2025, pressures deepened as DOMO Chemicals’ three German subsidiaries – DOMO Chemicals, DOMO Caproleuna and DOMO Engineering Plastics – filed to insolvency, impacting roughly 585 employees.

In January 2026, production at DOMO Chemicals’ German vegetation continued at minimal levels after the state government intervened and ordered their continued operation.

The ownership landscape shifted further in might 2026, when Lone Star Funds completed its acquisition of DOMO Engineered Materials, shortly after taking over Radici Group’s high-performance polymers and specialty chemicals businesses.The combined platform broadens product reach and scale across engineered materials markets.

With Radici now under its umbrella to support nylon 6,6 production, DOMO’s polymerization capacity has shut completely. DOMO’s position in the ADA chain has shifted sharply from being a producer to a buyer, and then ultimately to exiting the market altogether.

MARGIN PRESSURE MOUNTS AMID ONGOING DEMAND WOESUpstream of the ADA chain, European benzene markets saw a sharp spike, with spot prices reaching their highest levels since July 2022. However, trading activity has largely stalled as evaporative environment and disruption linked to the ongoing US-Israe-Iran war continue to unsettle the market and curb buying interest.

The price surge has been driven by higher costs and tightening regional supply, following the reopening of the transatlantic arbitrage, which had remained largely shut since US tariffs were imposed on European benzene imports.

In April 2025, the Commission released the first Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) certificate price on 7 April, establishing the carbon cost to importing 2026 shipments of ammonia.

The Commission plans to update these prices on a quarterly basis, with subsequent publications scheduled to 6 July, 5 October 2026 and 4 January 2027. Fertilizer prices have already been on an upward direction since 2021, driven by higher natural gaseous costs, the impact of the war in Ukraine, and the added cost pressures stemming from the implementation of CBAM from 1 January 2026.

Rising upstream costs from benzene and ammonia, with persistently high natural gaseous and shipping rates, have significantly squeezed margins to European ADA producers.

Persistently weak demand has continued to weigh on the market. In the construction sector globally, the sharp increase in raw material prices due to the US-Israel-Iran war has adversely impacted – commercial, residential and civil engineering sectors.

According to ICIS demand analyst Jincy Varghese, “market sentiment is quite pessimistic amid the uncertainty. Inflation remains a key attention and is adversely impacting development prospects.”

The EU (including the UK) construction sector is expected to grow by 1.6% year on year in 2026, with the second quarter of 2026 forecast to grow by 1.5% compared with the second quarter of 2025 (Oxford Economics). Eurozone construction work continues to be in contractionary territory, with the HCOB Eurozone Construction PMI under 50 in April. France, Germany and Italy have experienced their strongest contraction since August 2022.

In the automotive sector too, restructuring and layoffs continue. Moreover, with the influx of Chinese electric vehicles (EVs), European regulators are reintroducing subsidies to support domestic EV manufacturing. however EU (including UK) automotive output in 2026 is expected to contract by 0.3% compared with 2025, while the second quarter of 2026 is forecast to contract by 2.9% compared year on year, according to Oxford Economics.