Glacial Acrylic Acid Has Good Market Prospects in China   

By Wang Yuying, PetroChina Jilin Petrochemical Company Research Institute

Glacial acrylic acid (GAA), which is also called purified acrylic acid or high purity acrylic acid, is produced through further purification of crude acrylic acid and mainly used in super absorbent polymers (SAP), polymer electrolytes, functional monomers, organic synthesis, water treatment agents and papermaking chemicals.

Overview of the global GAA market

The global GAA capacity reached 1.723 million t/a in 2010, accounting for about 32% of the global total capacity of acrylic acid. In terms of capacity, major global GAA makers are Rohm and Haas, BASF, Nippon Shokubai and Dow Chemical.
   Despite a lack of detailed and systemic statistic data about the production and demand of GAA in the world, the global consumption of GAA can be roughly estimated according to the output of SAP - the most important downstream product of GAA. According to statistics, the global consumption of SAP was around 1.6 million tons in 2010, so the global demand for GAA was about 1.2 million tons.
   The global consumption of GAA accounts for around 43% of the global total consumption of acrylic acid. Out of the global consumption of GAA, SAP accounts for around 74%, water treatment agents about 16%, detergents about 9% and others 1%. The United States, Western Europe and Japan are major GAA producing regions, and these GAA markets have gradually matured. China, Southeast Asia and Latin America are becoming the emerging SAP markets. With foreign producers of disposable diapers and sanitary napkins entering the Chinese market, China will become the main SAP consumption market in the world. It is expected that the global demand for GAA will grow around 5.4% annually during 2010-2015 and reach 2.2 million tons in 2014.
   To meet the requirements of downstream deep-processed products, GAA makers are constantly enhancing the purity of their GAA products. At the same time, they are also trying to reduce production costs and to prolong the continuous operation cycle of their GAA plants. In addition, GAA cannot be produced without distillation and crystallization units. Constant improvement and innovation of the units are also the future major development directions of the GAA production technology. In the world, GAA producers with powerful strength in GAA production technology and research are Nippon Shokubai, Mitsubishi Chemical, Stockhausen, BASF and Arkema. These companies own a number of patented technologies and are major global producers of acrylic acid and GAA.

Table 1 Major GAA plants in the world in 2010
Company    Location of plant    Capacity (thousand t/a)
Rohm and Haas    Deer Park, Texas (the USA)    265
BASF    Freeport, Texas (the USA)    168
BASF    Antwerp, Belgium    80
BASF-Petronas    Kuantan, Malaysia    24
Nippon Shokubai    Himeji, Japan    172
Nippon Shokubai    Niihama, Japan    45
Nippon Shokubai    Indonesia    22
Dow Chemical    Clear Lake, Texas (the USA)    165
Dow Chemical    Leuna, Germany    80
Arkema    France    107
StoHaas    Marl, Germany    100
American Acryl    Bayport, Texas (the USA)    87
Jiangsu Jurong Chemical Co Ltd    Yancheng, Jiangsu province, China    80
BASF-YPC Co Ltd    Nanjing, Jiangsu province, China    70
Singapore Acrylic Ester    Sakra, Singapore    45
Mitsubishi Chemical    Yokkaichi, Japan    40
Mitsubishi and Sasol    Sasolburg, South Africa    10
Formosa Plastics    Taiwan province    35
Formosa Plastics    Ningbo, Zhejiang province, China    30
LG Chemical    South Korea    27
Sinopec Beijing Dongfang Petrochemical Company     Beijing, China    24
Shanghai Huayi Acrylic Acid Co Ltd    Shanghai    20
Idemitsu Petrochemical    Nagoya, Japan    15
Toagosei    Tsurusaki, Japan    12
Total        1 723
Source: CNCIC

Production and consumption of GAA in China

Sinopec Beijing Dongfang Petrochemical Company is China's first GAA producer. It has two GAA units, which each have a capacity of 12 000 t/a and went on stream in 1998 and 2001, respectively.  The two units use the Nippon Shokubai technology and design. Their operating cycle and product quality have reached the world advanced level. As one of China's largest manufacturers of acrylic acid and acrylates, Shanghai Huayi Acrylic Acid Co Ltd (former the Acrylic Acid Plant of Sinopec Shanghai Gaoqiao Petrochemical Co Ltd) has developed its own patented GAA technology on the basis of the imported technology and equipment from Mitsubishi. With the startup of new GAA units of companies such as Jiangsu Jurong Chemical Co Ltd, BASF-YPC Co Ltd and Formosa Plastics Group (Ningbo) one after another, the total capacity of GAA (including the capacity of joint venture enterprises and foreign-funded ones) in China has now reached 224 000 t/a. Major GAA producers in China in 2010 are listed in Table 2.
                                                             
Table 2  Major GAA producers in China in 2010    (thousand t/a)
Producer    Capacity    Source of technology    Startup time    Process
Jiangsu Jurong Chemical Co Ltd    80    PetroChina Lanzhou Petrochemical Company Research Institute and Shanghai Huayi    January 2005    Crystallization method
BASF-YPC Co Ltd    70    BASF    June 2005    Distillation method
Formosa Plastics Group (Ningbo)    30    Formosa Plastics Group    -    Distillation method
Sinopec Beijing Dongfang Petrochemical Company    24 (two units)    Nippon Shokubai of Japan    October 1998 and March 2001    Distillation method
Shanghai Huayi Acrylic Acid Co Ltd    20    PetroChina Lanzhou Petrochemical Company Research Institute and Shanghai Huayi    July 2004    Distillation method
Total    224
Source: CNCIC

   Among the downstream products of acrylic acid, SAP has the largest development prospect. In 2008, the capacity of SAP i