Amid the global wave of green agricultural transformation, the humic acid fertilizer industry is undergoing a strategic evolution—from a “fertilizer synergist” to a “core carrier for soil remediation,” and further to an “agricultural-environmental synergy solution.” This leap not only reshapes agricultural production methods but also fosters an emerging market on the verge of exceeding 100 billion yuan in scale. This paper provides a comprehensive analysis of the market pattern, core driving forces, technological trends, and future prospects of the humic acid fertilizer industry, revealing its pivotal role in safeguarding food security and achieving the dual-carbon goals.
Market Status and Scale Prospects: A 100-Billion-Yuan Track Led by Asia-Pacific
The humic acid fertilizer industry is embracing a historic development opportunity. In 2023, the global market scale reached 60.567 billion yuan RMB, with the Chinese market accounting for 52% (31.471 billion yuan RMB), making China the world’s largest consumer and producer of humic acid fertilizers. Driven by both policy support and technological breakthroughs, this market is expanding rapidly at an annual growth rate of over 10%. It is projected that the global market scale will exceed 80 billion yuan RMB by 2025 and reach 125.5 billion yuan RMB by 2030, officially entering the ranks of 100-billion-yuan industries.
From a regional perspective, the global humic acid fertilizer market presents a distinct pattern of “Asia-Pacific leadership and multi-polar growth.” Leveraging its massive agricultural foundation and proactive policy support, the Asia-Pacific region dominates the global market. In 2023, the area of farmland treated with humic acid fertilizers in the region exceeded 6.4 million hectares, mainly applied to high-value crops such as rice and vegetables. Meanwhile, the North American and European markets are also growing rapidly—particularly the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), which provides subsidies for bioactive inputs, driving the application of humic acid fertilizers in organic agriculture.
Notably, the penetration rate of humic acid in total fertilizer demand is rising rapidly. Currently, the global penetration rate of humic acid fertilizers in chemical fertilizers is less than 10%, but it is expected to exceed 25% by 2030—meaning the market capacity will expand by more than 1.5 times in the next five years. This explosive growth stems from the strategic upgrading of humic acid fertilizers from traditional “fertilizer synergists” to “core carriers for soil remediation,” with their value chain extending to environmental governance and carbon neutrality, opening up broader market space.
Core Driving Forces: Triple Empowerment from Policy, Demand, and Technology
Intensive Release of Policy Dividends
Intensive policy support worldwide has built a “golden track” for the humic acid fertilizer industry. In China, the 2025 Central No. 1 Document included humic acid in the catalog of new-type fertilizers for the first time, explicitly granting a 30% fiscal subsidy and positioning it as a core tool for improving cultivated land quality, saline-alkali land management, and chemical fertilizer reduction. Meanwhile, China has allocated over 1.8 trillion yuan RMB in agricultural support funds through “ultra-long-term special treasury bonds” to humic acid-related fields such as organic fertilizer production facilities and smart agricultural equipment, providing strong financial security for industrial development.
Internationally, the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) provides subsidies for bioactive inputs, urging domestic enterprises to improve quality standards and accelerate integration with international practices. Policy empowerment is also reflected in carbon footprint management: the “Work Plan for Accelerating the Construction of a Dual Control System for Carbon Emissions” issued by China’s State Council has included humic acid in the first batch of carbon footprint-managed products, promoting its application in agricultural emission reduction and carbon sequestration. The 2025 key work of the China Humic Acid Industry Association clearly proposes to focus on dual-carbon agriculture, build low-carbon humic acid fertilizer pilot zones, and aim to reduce agricultural carbon emissions by 15% by 2030.
Demand from Green Agricultural Transformation
The global green agricultural transformation has created rigid demand for humic acid fertilizers. Humic acid fertilizers have significant advantages in soil remediation, reducing remediation costs by 40%, which perfectly aligns with the “Beautiful China” initiative. Their environmental benefits are reflected in three aspects: reducing nitrate leaching by 30%, lowering soil erosion and nutrient runoff, and increasing soil organic matter content. Currently, 38% of organically certified farms worldwide use humic acid fertilizers to reduce chemical dependence, and this proportion continues to rise.
In the field of saline-alkali land management, humic acid fertilizers demonstrate unique value. Taking the northern Xinjiang region of China as an example—where saline-alkali land accounts for approximately one-third of the national total—there is an urgent demand for products that improve saline-alkali conditions and enhance soil water and fertilizer retention capacity. In 2025, Jiashi County purchased 143 tons of mineral-sourced humic acid water-soluble fertilizer in one batch, with a budget of 1 million yuan RMB, highlighting the government’s promotion efforts. Through mechanisms such as promoting aggregate structure formation, reducing soil salt concentration, and improving nutrient use efficiency, humic acid fertilizers have become essential products for the sustainable development of agriculture in saline-alkali areas.
Technological Breakthroughs for Cost Reduction
Breakthroughs in raw material substitution technology have provided a new path for cost reduction and efficiency improvement in the humic acid industry. Traditional humic acid is mainly extracted from weathered coal or lignite, which is restricted by mineral resource distribution and high costs. However, the maturity of straw-based humic acid extraction technology has reduced raw material costs by 30%, with laboratory conversion efficiency exceeding 60% in 2024. It is expected that by 2030, biomass humic acid production bases will cover 80% of major agricultural counties, and production costs are expected to decrease by another 50%.
Digital applications are reshaping the production and application of humic acid fertilizers. IoT + AI fertilization systems have covered 2.2 million hectares of farmland worldwide, using sensors to dynamically adjust humic acid delivery and reduce input waste by 25%. The application ratio of drone spraying of humic acid water-soluble fertilizers in protected agriculture has increased from 18% to 35%, significantly improving fertilization uniformity and efficiency. These technological innovations not only enhance the application effect of humic acid fertilizers but also lower the application threshold for farmers, accelerating market popularization.
Product and Technological Trends: Innovation-Driven Category Upgrading
Liquid Formulations Dominating the Market
Liquid humic acid fertilizers have become the market mainstream, accounting for 51.78% of registrations in 2023—surpassing powder products (47.81%). It is expected that the overall proportion of functional products will exceed 65% by 2025. This structural change is mainly driven by the popularization of water-fertilizer integration technology: over 29 million hectares of farmland worldwide use drip irrigation systems, requiring 100% water-soluble fertilizers, and liquid humic acid formulations completely solve the problem of nozzle clogging associated with traditional products.
The core advantages of liquid formulations lie in their compounding flexibility and intelligent integration capabilities. By combining with slow-release synergistic components such as polyaspartic acid, liquid humic acid fertilizers can increase nutrient use efficiency to 75%—far higher than the 35-40% of traditional chemical fertilizers. Representative products such as “intelligent responsive liquid fertilizers” realize “field-specific strategies” through IoT, driving their application ratio in protected agriculture from 18% to 35%. Globally, over 820,000 hectares of farmland have adopted intelligent fertilization systems to optimize humic acid delivery, reducing input costs by 25%.
Rise of Humic Acid + Microbial Compound Formulations
Compound products of humic acid and microbial agents are leading market growth at an annual rate of 20%. By 2024, over 210 types of commercial humic acid-microbial compound fertilizers had been available worldwide, covering 600,000 hectares of high-value crop areas. Through the dual-effect mechanism of “carrier + active bacteria,” these products achieve synergistic improvement in soil remediation and plant growth.
The technological synergy is reflected in two aspects: first, enhanced microbial activity—humic acid provides carbon sources and living carriers for beneficial microorganisms (e.g., phosphorus-solubilizing bacteria), increasing bacterial survival rate by 40% and phosphorus mobilization efficiency by 2-3 times; second, improved crop quality—in vegetable and fruit cultivation, compound products increase root length and chlorophyll content by an average of 22% and sugar content by 10%. Taking processed tomatoes in Xinjiang as an example, the lycopene content significantly increases after using humic acid-based functional fertilizers, making them more favored by processing plants.
Innovation in High-Activity and Pharmaceutical-Grade Products
In response to the EU and other high-end markets’ requirement for humic acid purity ≥95% (with domestic compliance rate currently less than 20%), Chinese enterprises are accelerating the deployment of high-value-added products. Acid precipitation-ammoniation technology has become a breakthrough: by treating calcium/magnesium humate with hydrochloric acid and then ammoniating with ammonium bicarbonate, water solubility is increased to 99% and the number of active functional groups is increased by 30% (patented by Tianjin Dongshengyang).
The application rate of such high-activity products in heavy metal-contaminated farmland remediation increases by 20% annually, as humic acid forms stable complexes with heavy metals to reduce crop absorption. Synthetic biology has opened a new path for humic acid production: in 2024, the laboratory conversion rate of humic acid synthesized by genetically edited microorganisms exceeded 60%, laying the foundation for large-scale production. Additionally, the combination of humic acid and nanotechnology shows great potential—by improving absorption rate and enhancing disease resistance, product gross profit margin exceeds 40%.
Regional Pattern and Demand Differentiation: A Diverse Global Market Landscape
Characteristics of Global Regional Markets
The global humic acid fertilizer market exhibits distinct regional differentiation. Relying on its massive agricultural foundation and proactive policy support, the Asia-Pacific region has become the world’s largest consumer market for humic acid fertilizers, led by China and India. In 2023, the area of farmland treated with humic acid fertilizers in Asia-Pacific exceeded 6.4 million hectares, mainly targeting rice and vegetables.
The North American market focuses on high-end applications: over 600,000 hectares of high-value crops (e.g., almonds, grapes) in the US and Canada use liquid humic acid formulations combined with precision fertilization systems; humic acid application in golf courses reaches 210,000 hectares, demonstrating penetration in high-end leisure agriculture.
The European market grows steadily driven by strict environmental policies and organic agriculture. The EU’s CAP encourages humic acid application through subsidies for bioactive inputs, with European organic agriculture area increasing by 18% in 2023. In Italy, 700,000 hectares of vineyards/orchards use humic acid fertilizers; in 2023, the European market launched over 120 new formulations meeting low-salt and heavy metal-free standards, reflecting high requirements for product quality.
Emerging markets such as South America, the Middle East, and Africa show great growth potential. Countries like Brazil and Argentina are expanding applications in soybeans and corn, while African countries are exploring the use of humic acid in water-saving agriculture amid water security pressures.
Differentiated Demand in the Chinese Market
The Chinese humic acid fertilizer market presents significant regional demand differentiation, with resource endowments, agricultural structures, and environmental challenges jointly shaping product demand and growth trajectories in various regions:
- Resource-Based Regions: Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia, relying on abundant mineral-sourced humic acid resources, have formed large-scale industrial clusters, accounting for 60% of China’s total exports (mainly to Southeast Asia and Europe). The growth rate of humic acid products in northern Xinjiang reaches 20%, significantly higher than the national average.
- Technology-Based Regions: Guangdong and Fujian focus on special liquid fertilizers for cash crops, with a gross profit margin exceeding 40% (e.g., Haiyan Agricultural Chemicals holds a 12% market share).
- Protected Agriculture Regions: Shandong, Jiangsu, and other provinces have strong demand for water-soluble fertilizers, with intelligent liquid formulations dominating and maintaining an annual growth rate of 12-15%.
- Black Soil Remediation Regions: Heilongjiang, Jilin, and other northeastern regions face soil fertility decline and structural damage due to long-term intensive agricultural production, focusing on soil remediation-type humic acid products. Large-scale promotion of humic acid-microbial compound formulations is underway, with an annual growth rate of approximately 10-12%.
- Southwest Cash Crop Regions: Yunnan, Sichuan, and other southwest provinces, leveraging diverse climatic conditions and characteristic crops, focus on developing functional compound fertilizers to serve high-value cash crops such as tea, Chinese medicinal materials, and specialty fruits, with an annual growth rate of 15-18%.
Industry Challenges and Risks: Growing Pains
Overcapacity and Quality Disparities
The humic acid fertilizer industry faces severe structural overcapacity. In 2022, the industry capacity utilization rate was only 50%, with a large number of small and medium-sized enterprises having idle equipment and intensified homogeneous competition. This low-level redundant construction has led to an industry concentration rate (CR4) of only 29%—far lower than that of mature international markets. However, this situation is changing rapidly: it is expected that by 2030, the industry concentration rate will rise to 45% through mergers and acquisitions to eliminate backward capacity.
Unified quality standards are another prominent challenge. Approximately 18% of commercial products have a humic acid concentration lower than 10%, seriously affecting crop performance and farmer trust. There are significant differences between domestic and international standards: the EU requires ≥95% purity for pharmaceutical-grade humic acid, while the domestic compliance rate is currently less than 20%, and no unified classification standards have been established. To address this, China is actively promoting international mutual recognition of the humic acid HA trademark, with export volume growing by 22% in 2024—indicating initial progress in international breakthroughs.
Storage, Transportation, and Application Barriers
High storage and transportation costs of liquid fertilizers have become a major obstacle to market penetration. Compared with solid products, the storage and transportation costs of liquid humic acid fertilizers are 30% higher, severely restricting popularization in low-tier markets—particularly in rural areas with relatively underdeveloped infrastructure.
Geographical limitations of raw materials also constrain industrial development. The main raw materials for humic acid (lignite and weathered coal) are unevenly distributed; in 2023, Leonardite costs rose by 18% due to supply chain issues. Although resource-rich regions such as Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia have raw material advantages, their long distance from major agricultural areas further increases costs through long-distance transportation. While biomass extraction technology (e.g., straw conversion) can partially alleviate this problem, the current output of biomass humic acid accounts for less than 15%.
Farmer awareness deficiency is a deeper challenge. Over 46% of smallholder farmers in developing countries are unaware of the efficacy of humic acid, requiring enhanced technical promotion and demonstration projects. Particularly in traditional agricultural areas, farmers have low acceptance of new fertilizers and limited understanding of application methods and effects—requiring enterprises to provide not only products but also comprehensive technical services and demonstration promotion. Establishing a popular science system of “technical promotion + demonstration farms” is key to breaking the awareness barrier.
International Standards and Technological Gaps
Facing technical barriers in international markets, Chinese enterprises urgently need to improve product standards. Although the EU’s CAP provides subsidies for bioactive inputs, its strict purity standards (≥95% for pharmaceutical grade) exclude most Chinese products from subsidy eligibility. Meanwhile, high-end markets such as the US and Japan have higher requirements for heavy metal residues and salt content than domestic standards, leading Chinese humic acid fertilizer exports to remain dominated by mid-to-low-end products.
Unbalanced patent layout is another hidden concern. Although China ranks first in the world with 10,331 humic acid patents, high-value patents account for less than 15%—far lower than the patent quality of international giants such as Bayer (Germany) and Sumitomo Chemical (Japan). These international enterprises occupy high-end markets through patent layouts, particularly in pharmaceutical-grade humic acid extraction, forming technical barriers. Chinese enterprises need to strengthen basic research and technological innovation, shifting from pursuing patent quantity to improving patent quality to compete with international giants in high-end markets.
Corporate Competitive Strategies: Paths to Breakthrough
High-End Breakthroughs by Leading Enterprises
Facing fierce market competition, leading enterprises are building competitive edges through R&D and product innovation. International giants such as BASF have developed special humic acid for heavy metal chelation, capturing 18% of the EU’s pharmaceutical-grade export share; ICL Group has launched the Nova series of foliar fertilizers (FINISH™, PULSE™), focusing on nitrogen efficiency improvement. These high-end products have a gross profit margin exceeding 40%, becoming the main source of corporate profits.
Chinese enterprises are enhancing competitiveness through patent layouts. Although China ranks first in the world in the number of humic acid patents (10,331), high-value patents account for less than 15%. To change this, leading enterprises are increasing R&D investment, focusing on innovative composite products such as “humic acid + nanotechnology” and “humic acid + biostimulants.” Tianjin Dongshengyang’s acid precipitation-ammoniation technology patent increases product water solubility to 99% and active functional groups by 30%, becoming a technical tool for breaking into international markets.
Resource Integration and Capacity Layout
Upstream resource control has become a key competitive strategy for enterprises. Sinochem Group has ensured stable raw material supply by acquiring Ukrainian humic acid mines; the first phase of Huludao Xinlianxin’s 1-million-ton ecological fertilizer project has been put into production, with an annual capacity of 1 million tons and annual sales revenue of 5.2 billion yuan RMB after the third phase is fully operational by the end of 2025. This vertical integration model not only ensures raw material quality and supply security but also enhances enterprises’ risk resistance capabilities amid price fluctuations.
Biomass raw material substitution is another important direction of resource strategy. Deploying straw-based humic acid extraction can reduce mineral dependence; it is expected that raw material costs will decrease by another 50% by 2030. Heilongjiang and Henan, as 2025 biomass humic acid industrialization pilots, are exploring the establishment of a regional circular model of “straw collection – humic acid production – fertilizer application.”
Scenario-Based Binding and Channel Innovation
Agricultural technology service integration has become the core of enterprises’ differentiated competition. Liquid fertilizer enterprises cooperate with drip irrigation equipment manufacturers (e.g., Netafim) to develop smart fertilizers dedicated to protected agriculture, achieving seamless integration of products and equipment. This “product + equipment + service” model not only enhances user stickiness but also builds competitive barriers. For example, Humusi (Heilongjiang) Bioengineering Co., Ltd. has promoted a service model of “humic acid + microbial agents + soil testing and formula” in Northeast China, increasing product premium by 25%.
Precision agriculture binding is another innovative direction. Drone enterprises have partnered with field humic acid spraying services—e.g., Yu County in Shanxi purchased 32.4 tons of humic acid-containing water-soluble fertilizer with supporting drone services—achieving dual improvements in fertilization efficiency and accuracy. Such cooperation transforms humic acid fertilizer enterprises from mere product suppliers into agricultural technology service providers.
Future Outlook and Development Directions: Toward the Humic Acid 3.0 Era
Functional Expansion of Humic Acid
The application of humic acid is expanding from traditional fertilizers to multiple fields, creating new growth points. In soil remediation, the heavy metal chelating capacity of humic acid drives its annual application growth of 20% in contaminated farmland remediation, making it a new tool for environmental governance. In carbon neutrality, humic acid fertilizers are included in the first batch of carbon footprint-managed products, and their carbon sequestration and emission reduction functions (increasing soil organic carbon by 2.5% annually) align with global carbon neutrality goals. It is projected that the market scale of humic acid in environmental protection will reach 4.5 billion yuan RMB by 2025, becoming an important growth pole of the industry.
Pharmaceutical-grade applications are a high-value frontier for humic acid. With the maturity of purification technologies such as acid precipitation-ammoniation, the application of humic acid in pharmaceutical fields such as anti-inflammatory agents and wound healing will gradually expand, with non-agricultural applications expected to account for 25% by 2030.
Industrial Chain Extension and Integration
The humic acid industry is undergoing profound industrial chain extension, expanding from single fertilizers to high-value-added fields such as pharmaceuticals, environmental protection, and energy (biomass fuels) to form a diversified value chain. Leading enterprises such as Sinochem Group have achieved full-chain layout from raw materials to end products by acquiring overseas mineral sources, enhancing industrial discourse power.
Cross-boundary integration is another important trend. The combination of humic acid and synthetic biology—using genetically edited microorganisms for efficient humic acid synthesis—achieved a laboratory conversion rate exceeding 60% in 2024, opening a new path for large-scale production. This technological integration not only improves production efficiency but also spawns new product forms such as intelligent responsive humic acid microcapsules, which can control nutrient release based on soil conditions.
ESG Investment and Green Finance
The humic acid industry is becoming a hotspot for sustainable investment. In 2024, industry financing increased by 37% year-on-year, reflecting capital’s preference for green agriculture. Humic acid enterprises that meet carbon neutrality goals are more likely to obtain ESG investments, with green bonds and carbon credits becoming new financing channels for enterprises.
Carbon trading opportunities are emerging. The carbon sequestration potential of humic acid fertilizers (0.5-1.2 tons of CO₂ per hectare per year) is expected to be included in the CCER (China Certified Emission Reduction) market, creating additional benefits for farmers and production enterprises. This mechanism will significantly improve the economics of humic acid fertilizers, particularly in large-scale farm applications. As China’s carbon market matures, humic acid fertilizer enterprises can enhance market competitiveness through a “product + carbon credit” bundling model.
Conclusion: A Core Force Leading Green Agricultural Transformation
The humic acid fertilizer industry is transitioning from the “synergist era” (1.0), through the “soil remediation carrier era” (2.0), to the “agricultural-environmental synergy solution era” (3.0). Driven by policy support, technological innovation, and market demand, the projection of a 100-billion-yuan market by 2025 is well-founded.
Enterprises need to seize three strategic opportunities: first, high-endization of functional products, focusing on breakthroughs in high-value segments such as pharmaceutical-grade humic acid (purity ≥95%) and intelligent liquid fertilizers (IoT-integrated); second, compounding of humic acid and microorganisms, leveraging the synergistic potential of microbial agents to maintain leading growth rates; third, regional market differentiation, formulating targeted strategies for Asia-Pacific food security (cost reduction and yield increase), European and American organic agriculture (high-premium products), and emerging market irrigation bottlenecks (solid slow-release formulations).
At the government level, efforts should be made to strengthen standard system construction, promote international mutual recognition of the HA trademark, reduce initial application costs through subsidies, and build low-carbon humic acid fertilizer pilot zones. Research institutions need to focus on cutting-edge directions such as synthetic biology and nano-humic acid composites, accelerating the industrialization of laboratory achievements.
As humic acid expands from agriculture to pharmaceuticals, environmental protection, and energy, its market value will transcend traditional agricultural boundaries, opening up a 100-billion-yuan incremental space. By seizing this opportunity, China’s humic acid industry is expected to take a leading position in the global green agricultural transformation, contributing significantly to safeguarding food security and achieving the dual-carbon goals.