As of 2012, the world acetic acid production volume reached 11.75 million tonnes. In the same year, the USA and European countries maintained the highest operating rates, whilst Asia (particularly China) kept them at a rather low level. Generally, the world acetic acid market developed at a steady pace during 2012, mainly due to the economic situation in the European region along with poor local demand in Asia. Furthermore, in 2013, the global acetic acid production stood at around 13.15 million tones, with the capacity utilization rate being estimated at nearly 77%. In 2013, the top five acetic acid-producing countries (China, the USA, Taiwan, Singapore and the UK) accounted for slightly over 78% of the world’s total output.
Acetic acid: world production broken down by country, 2013
Celanese, Jiangsu Sopo (Group), Shanghai Huayi Group, Eastman Chemical, Yankuang Cathay Coal Chemicals, LyondellBasell Acetyls, BP, Samsung BP Chemicals, Hebei Chung Shun Chemical, International Acetyl, Daicel Corporation, Chang Chun Petrochemical, Shandong Hualu Hengsheng Chemical and Henan Shunda Chemical Technology are among the top companies involved in the world acetic acid industry.
In 2013, the world annual production capacity of acetic acid stood at over 17 million. APAC captured a share of more than 73% of the world’s total capacity.
Acetic acid: world capacity broken down by region, 2013
During 2010-2013, the world acetic acid consumption followed a stable upward trend. In 2013, it exceeded 13.1 million tonnes. Asia-Pacific was the leading acetic acid consumer. The major end-use segments for acetic acid include VAM, PTA and anhydride as of 2013.
The global acetic acid foreign trade stood at more than USD 1.8 billion in value in 2012. In the same year, North America was the top acetic acid exporter, while Europe imported the largest amount of the material.
In the forthcoming years novel acetic acid capacity introductions are expected in India, China and Brazil. The demand for the key acetic acid end product, VAM, is increasing faster across the developing regions than the developed ones, which explains the rising need for novel acetic acid production units there. Meantime, the North American and European markets are more mature and there are no plans to add any new acetic acid capacities in the offing. In 2018, the global acetic acid production volume will likely surpass the 17.3 million tonnes mark.
More information on the acetic acid market can be found in the study “Acetic Acid (AcOH): 2014 World Market Outlook and Forecast up to 2018”.