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As the core alicyclic amine raw material for high-performance epoxy curing agents, the supply-demand and price trends of Isophorone Diamine (IPDA) are the key factors affecting the transparent epoxy product market. Combined with the changes in the global chemical industry chain in 2026, IPDA and the corresponding transparent epoxy curing agents will show an overall trend of tight raw materials, rising costs, and steadily increasing curing agent prices in the next 3-6 months, accompanied by periodic small fluctuations.
As the core raw material for high yellowing resistance and high transparency epoxy curing agents, the IPDA market is dominated by three major factors: rigid supply, demand growth, and cost transmission, and will maintain a strong operation from mid to late 2026.On the supply side, the global core production capacity of IPDA is concentrated in a few leading enterprises, and the release of new production capacity is slow. In the first half of the year, the maintenance of overseas manufacturers' equipment, high energy costs in Europe, and geopolitical conflicts in the Middle East led to periodic tightness in imported supply; domestically, high-purity transparent IPDA still relies on imports, coupled with "dual carbon" production restrictions, resulting in an overall tight supply-demand balance.On the demand side, the demand for transparent epoxy products in fields such as new energy, high-end construction, and automotive lightweight coatings continues to rise. The orders of IPDA-based transparent curing agents have increased significantly year-on-year, and downstream purchasing enthusiasm has increased. The supply-demand mismatch supports raw material prices.On the cost side, the rise in international oil prices has driven up the prices of upstream raw materials such as isophorone, resulting in significant pressure on IPDA production costs and strong motivation for price transmission. Overall, IPDA prices will rise steadily with small fluctuations in the future, with an expected overall increase of 30-40%, and may rise periodically in the third quarter due to peak season stocking.
The price of transparent epoxy curing agents is highly bound to IPDA, and at the same time affected by the market structure. In the future, it will show the characteristics of following the rise of raw materials, slightly lagging growth rate, and firm premium of high-end products.IPDA accounts for 60%-70% of the cost of transparent curing agents. Coupled with the rise in epoxy resin raw material prices, the comprehensive cost pressure of curing agents has been concentrated. Major manufacturers have successively issued price adjustment notices, with a cumulative increase of 20-40%, and the cumulative increase is expected to reach 50% in the future.At the market level, high-end transparent yellowing-resistant products have high technical barriers, low customer price sensitivity, strong premium capacity, and smooth price follow-up; mid-to-low-end products have fierce homogeneous competition, limited room for price increases, and the growth rate is lower than that of high-end products. The peak construction season in the second and third quarters will accelerate the transmission of price increases, and the upward trend will slow down in the fourth quarter but is unlikely to drop sharply.
From mid to late 2026, IPDA and transparent epoxy curing agents will simultaneously enter a cost-driven steady upward cycle. This round of price increases is not only a cost pressure but also an opportunity for industry reshuffling. Manufacturers with stable supply chains and high-end R&D capabilities will gain advantages. The short-term (3-6 months) upward trend is clear; in the long run, with the breakthrough of domestic high-end IPDA production capacity, price fluctuations will gradually converge.
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