Acetic Acid Producers Need to Extend Their Industrial Chains      

The biggest use of acetic acid is to make vinyl acetate monomer, which can be used to produce protective coatings, adhesives and plastics. The second largest and fastest-growing use of acetic acid is as a solvent in the production of purified terephthalic acid (PTA). Acetic acid is also used in the production of acetic anhydride, propyl acetate, butyl acetate and ethyl acetate.
   During several decades of operation, the acetic acid industry has developed several synthesis methods, including the light hydrocarbon liquid phase oxidation method, the acetaldehyde oxidation method, the direct ethylene oxidation method and the methanol carbonylation (MC) method. The MC method has become the mainstream technology, producing more than 65% of the world's acetic acid output.
   Since 1972, China Southwest Research & Design Institute of Chemical Industry has pursued R&D on the low-pressure methanol carbonylation (LPMC) technique. After more than 20 years of effort, this institute has finally completed the design of a 200 000 t/a acetic acid process package. This technology was subsequently sold to Yankuang Group, CNPC Daqing Oilfield Chemical Co Ltd and other Chinese enterprises, and several 200 000 t/a acetic acid units have been built with this technology.
   Jiangsu Sopo Corporation (Group) Ltd (Jiangsu Sopo) holds the intellectual property rights of the LPMC technology. It built its first 100 000 t/a acetic acid unit with this technology in 1998, and it now has an acetic acid capacity of 600 000 t/a.
   In 1996, Shanghai Wujing Chemical Co Ltd imported China's first 100 000 t/a LPMC-based acetic acid unit from BP. Now, it has expanded the capacity of this unit to 200 000 t/a.
   In 2010 Henan Coal Chemical Group Company Ltd (its subsidiary, Henan Yima Gasification Plant) is preparing to construct a 200 000 t/a acetic acid project that will break through the technological bottleneck of the pressure swing adsorption preparation of carbon monoxide with the recycled carbon dioxide furnace. For the first time in China, it will use China-made zirconium materials and liquid phase LPMC technology to synthesize acetic acid, furthering the development of China's acetic acid industry. Its acetic acid synthesis technology will lead China.
   As of the end of 2009, China's total acetic acid capacity reached 5 million t/a, including around 4.5 million t/a MC-based capacity. China's total output of acetic acid in 2009 was 3.122 million tons according to report of CNCIC (but according to the data provided by China's National Bureau of Statistics, China's 2009 output of acetic acid was 2.72 million tons).

China's major acetic acid companies in 2009
Company                            Capacity, thousand t/a
Jiangsu Sopo Corporation (Group) Ltd    600
Celanese (Nanjing) Chemical Co Ltd      600
Yangtze River Acetyls Chemical Company    350
Shanghai Wujing Chemical Co Ltd         600
Yankuang Cathay Coal Chemicals Co Ltd    600
CNPC Daqing Oilfield Chemical Co Ltd    200
Hebei Chung Shun Chemical Co Ltd        500
PetroChina Jilin Petrochemical Company    210
Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical Company    50
Shijiazhuang Xinyu Sanyang Industrial Co Ltd    100
Nanning Chemical Group Co Ltd              15
Shaanxi Yulin Natural Gas Chemical Industry Co Ltd    150
Henan Tianguan Group Co Ltd             20
China Overseas Pioneer Chemicals (Taixing) Co, Ltd    100
The Golden Yinmeng Group Company Ltd    100
Tianjin Guanda Group Corporation        40
Jilin JiAn New Energy Group             210
Guizhou Crystal Organic Chemical (Group) Co Ltd     36
Nantong Acetic Acid Chemical Co Ltd     15
Sinopec Yangzi Petrochemical Company    100
Haohua-Junhua Chemical Technology Co Ltd    200
PetroChina Daqing Petrochemical Company    100
Shandong Hualu-Hengsheng Chemical Co Ltd    200
Source: CCR


   Driven by rapid growth of demand, there are now many new and expansion acetic acid projects under construction in China. It is expected that by the end of 2010, China's total MC-based acetic acid capacity will reach 6.6 million t/a, and China's total acetic acid capacity will be more than 7 million t/a.

New acetic acid projects under construction or planning in China in 2010   
Company             Capacity, thousand t/a
Celanese (Nanjing) Chemical Co Ltd      600
Yunnan Yuwei Company Limited             200
Tianjin Soda Plant of Tianjin Bohai Chemical Industry Group     200
BP YPC Acetyls (Nanjing) Ltd            500
Yankuang Cathay Coal Chemicals Co Ltd    400
Shaanxi Yangchang Petroleum (Group) Co Ltd    200+400
Jiangsu Sopo Corporation (Group) Ltd    600
Yangtze River Acetyls Chemical Company    650
Huaibei Mining Group                    200
Shanghai Wujing Chemical Co Ltd         200
Henan Yima Shengyuan Chemical Company    300
Henan Coal Chemical Group Company Ltd    200
Anhui Huayi Chemical Co Ltd              500
Yinchuan Ningdo Energy Chemical Base     200
Shandong Hualu-Hengsheng Chemical Co Ltd    600
Weihe Coal Chemical Group                  200
Chongqing Wansheng Coal Chemical Co Ltd    200
Source: CCR


   According to statistics, during 2005 to 2009, the consumption and output of acetic acid in China grew at an average annual rate of 15.6% and 22.9%, respectively. This means that the operating rate and localization of China's acetic acid units has increased year by year. Especially since 2007, because many new and expanded acetic acid units have gone into operation, China's import of acetic acid has dropped by more than 30%. In 2008 and 2009, China's import volume of acetic acid further declined. It is expected that with the constant growth of its acetic acid capacity in the next few years, China will gradually become a net exporter of acetic acid.

China's consumption of acetic acid
                   (thousand tons)
Year    Output    Imports    Exports