Acrylic Emulsions & PMMA Resin (Styrene-Acrylic, Pure Acrylic & Sheet-Grade PMMA)

Styrene-acrylic and pure acrylic binders for paints and adhesives, and PMMA pellets for extruded sheet

Acrylic polymers trade in two very different forms under one heading. Acrylic emulsions are water-borne dispersions made by emulsion polymerisation, and they are the binders of latex house paints for interior and exterior use and the base of water-based pressure-sensitive adhesives, paper coatings and textile coatings, preferred over solvent-based systems because they carry no volatile organic solvent. The film forms as the water evaporates and the polymer particles coalesce. Paint makers choose between pure acrylic and styrene-acrylic dispersions: the best exterior water-based paints use a 100% acrylic binder for its elasticity, while vinyl binders cost about half as much and polyvinyl acetate less again. An emulsion is matched on the producer's technical data sheet - solids content, glass transition temperature (Tg) and minimum film-forming temperature (MFFT) - to the grade the formulation already runs. PMMA is the other half of the trade. It transmits up to 92% of visible light at 3 mm, has a density of 1.17-1.20 g/cm³, about half that of glass, and atactic PMMA has a glass transition temperature of about 105 °C. Acrylic sheet is made two ways: cast sheet is polymerised from methyl methacrylate monomer in a mould, while extruded sheet is made from PMMA pellets heated and forced through a die, so the resin buyer is the sheet extruder, alongside the injection moulder of automotive lamp lenses, displays and signage. Producers separate their moulding compounds by flow and by heat deflection temperature under load.

Customs follows the polymer: PMMA is HS 3906.10 and emulsions and other acrylic polymers are HS 3906.90. UN Comtrade 2024 export declarations under HS 3906.10 total about USD 1.29 billion and 544,000 MT across 77 reporters: Korea USD 286 million and 120,800 MT, Singapore USD 163 million and 73,500 MT, the USA USD 132 million, Japan USD 122 million, China USD 120 million and 54,000 MT, Italy USD 74 million, Malaysia USD 41 million and Taiwan USD 35 million; Germany declares no exports under the code in the 2024 data, but importers declared USD 203 million from Germany. HS 3906.90 is a wide basket of other acrylic polymers at about USD 15.0 billion: China USD 2.09 billion, the USA USD 1.75 billion, Korea USD 1.72 billion, France USD 1.45 billion, Japan USD 1.13 billion, Belgium USD 907 million and the Netherlands USD 803 million, with a further USD 2.40 billion declared by importers from Germany. Those are declared trade values, not offers. The buyer is a paint or construction-chemicals maker, an adhesive and label-stock producer, an acrylic sheet extruder, a lens or display moulder, or a distributor. CBIL is a commodity brokerage company and brokers acrylic emulsions and PMMA resin from producers and their offtake traders in Korea, Singapore, the USA, Japan, China, Taiwan, Italy and Germany, against the producer's certificate of analysis to the grade's data sheet, the safety data sheet, a certificate of origin, a REACH statement for EU imports, where polymers are exempt from registration, and a food-contact declaration where the end use needs one, such as 21 CFR 177.1010 for acrylic plastics in the USA. Emulsions move in drums or IBCs and PMMA pellets in 25 kg bags, in containers on FOB, CFR and CIF terms, priced per MT on grade, pack and origin; minimum quantities are confirmed per product and pack, and any anti-dumping duty at destination is checked for the route before an origin is fixed. Send the chemistry, the solids, Tg and MFFT band or the PMMA grade, the end use, pack, monthly volume and discharge port, and the enquiry is screened and worked against it.

Excluded origins are not offered, including product re-exported, blended or re-processed through a third country. Every lot moves with a certificate of origin naming the producing plant, mine or grower country, and nothing is quoted before the seller and loading point are known.