Monotonous Consumption Structure for Vinyl Acetate      

Vinyl acetate is mainly used to produce polyvinyl acetate, polyvinyl alcohol, vinyl acetate-ethylene (VAE) copolymer emulsion or copolymer resin, vinyl acetate-vinyl chloride copolymer, polyacrylonitrile copolymer and acetal resin. It has a wide range of uses in textile, coatings, adhesive, film, pharmaceutical, organic synthesis, fine chemical and daily chemical industries.
   Currently, the production processes of vinyl acetate in the world mainly include the ethylene method and the acetylene method. Due to its greater advantages in process and economy, the ethylene method accounts for most of the global vinyl acetate capacity. The acetylene method is almost only used by Chinese manufacturers.
   Reportedly, as of the end of 2009, the world's total vinyl acetate capacity had reached about 6.86 million t/a, and China's vinyl acetate capacity was 1.583 million t/a, accounting for about 23% of the global total. In 2009, China produced about 1.1 million tons of vinyl acetate. Out of China's total vinyl acetate capacity, the combined capacity of the calcium carbide-based acetylene method was 845 000 t/a, accounting for about 53.4% of total, the combined capacity of the natural gas-based acetylene method was 210 000 t/a, accounting for 13.6% of total, and the combined capacity of the ethylene method was 528 000 t/a, accounting for 33.0% of total. Celanese (Nanjing) Chemical Co Ltd is now China's largest vinyl acetate manufacturer with a vinyl acetate capacity of 300 000 t/a, accounting for 19.4% of China's total. Sinopec Sichuan Vinylon Works is the second largest with a vinyl acetate capacity of 210 000 t/a, accounting for 13.6% of China's total. Anhui Wanwei Updated High-Tech Material Industry Co Ltd ranks the third by a capacity of 155 000 t/a, accounting for 10.0% of China's total.

Supply and Consumption of Vinyl Acetate in China
(thousand tons)
Year    Output    Import    Export    Consumption
2003    847     148     4       991
2004    960     147     3       1 104
2005    1 010    152     1      1 161
2006    1 051    215     0.3    1 266
2007    1 074    279     1    1 352
2008    1 210    255     12    1 453
2009    1 100    256     0.2    1 356
2010 Jan-Oct    -    192    17.9    -
Source: CCR


   In the next few years, China will still build a few new or expanded vinyl acetate units. Sinopec Sichuan Vinylon Works' new 300 000 t/a vinyl acetate unit that was launched in 2008 was planned to start up at the end of 2010, Yibin Tianyuan Group Company Limited's subsidiary launched a 240 000 t/a vinyl acetate project in Yunnan province, Sinopec Beijing Dongfang Petrochemical Company intends to expand its existing vinyl acetate capacity to 180 000 t/a, Yankuang Lunan Chemical Fertilizer Plant planned to build a 200 000 t/a vinyl acetate unit; Hubei Yihua Chemical Industry Co Ltd planned to build a 300 000 t/a vinyl acetate unit, and Yunnan Yunwei Co Ltd announced a plan to increase its vinyl acetate capacity by 50 000 t/a at Baoshan site in 2011. In addition, the company also planned to build a 200 000 t/a vinyl acetate unit in Qujing in 2011, Jiangsu Changlian Chemical Co Ltd planned to build a 360 000 t/a vinyl acetate project at the Yangzhou Chemical Industry Park, Inner Mongolia Mengwei Technology Co Ltd wanted to set up a 200 000 t/a vinyl acetate plant, and Jiangsu SOPO (Group) Co Ltd intends to use the DuPont technology to construct a 330 000 t/a vinyl acetate plant in Zhenjiang, Jiangsu province. It is expected that by 2015, China's total vinyl acetate capacity will be more than 2.6 million t/a.
   In recent years, due to the rapid growth of vinyl acetate downstream industries in China, China's vinyl acetate volume imported has continued to increase. According to statistics from China General Administration of Customs, China imported 146 100 tons of vinyl acetate in 2002, 214 900 tons in 2006 and 278 900 tons in 2007, creating a record high. In 2008, due to the global economic crisis and the rapid growth of domestic vinyl acetate capacity, the volume imported declined slightly. In 2009, it was 256 100 tons, up about 0.4% year on year.
   China mainly imports vinyl acetate from Taiwan province, the United States, Japan and South Korea. In 2009, China imported 238 600 tons of vinyl acetate from these four countries and region, up about 7.6% year on year. The imported vinyl acetate products mainly come from US based Celanese Corporation, Taiwan Dairen Chemical Corporation, Celanese Singapore Pte Ltd and the Nippon Synthetic Chemical Industry Company.

China's vinyl acetate imports by source
(thousand tons)
From    2008    2009    Growth YoY, %
Taiwan prov    119.5    115.1    -3.7
USA     47.4    69.7    47.1
Japan    39.0     21.8    -44.1
Singapore    29.9    17.5    -41.5
Korea    15.9    32.0     101.3
Other    3.4     0        -
Total    255.1    256.1    0.39
Source: CCR


   In China, Jiangsu, Guangdong, Shanxi and Zhejiang provinces and Shanghai municipality import vinyl acetate. In 2009, the total vinyl acetate import volume of the five places reached 245 400 tons, up about 4.9% year on year, of which Jiangsu province accounted for about 65.2%. In 2009, major vinyl acetate importers are Changchun Chemical (Jiangsu) Co Ltd, Dairen Chemical (Jiangsu) Co Ltd, Nantong Chemical & Light Industry Co Ltd (a trader), Guangzhou Metal Minerals Imp. & Exp. Ltd (a trader), Shanxi Sanwei Group Co Ltd, Celanese (Shanghai) International Trade Co Ltd and Zhangjiagang Yueyang Industrial Co Ltd. Their combined imports accounted for 50.24% of the nation's total.

Vinyl acetate imported by China's region
(thousand tons)
Province    2008    2009    Growth YoY, %
Jiangsu     154.2     166.9     8.2
Guangdong    22.8     38.1     67.1
Zhejiang    15.9     11.1     -30.2
Shanghai    2.0     12.8     13.9
Fujian      7.9     9.0     540.0
Shanxi      39.1     16.5