Intense Competition Expected in China’s Ethyl Acetate Market

By Xu Penghan, Qilu Branch, Sinopec Chemical Commercial Holding Company Limited

I. Production

Driven by demand in the fields of construction and furniture coatings, both the production capacity and the output of ethyl acetate in China have increased continuously. The capacity in 2006 was 900 kt/a, and by 2009 it had climbed to 1.5 million t/a. With newly constructed or expanded ethyl acetate units put into operation by enterprises such as Shanghai Wujing Chemical, Jiangsu Sopo Group and Shandong Haihua, the total capacity of ethyl acetate in China increased substantially and reached 2.1 million t/a as of the end of August 2012. Of all the producers, three employ the ethanol dehydrogenation to ethyl acetate method and their combined capacity is 180 kt/a, accounting for 8.57% of China’s total capacity of ethyl acetate; one producer uses catalytic condensation of acetaldehyde to ethyl acetate method and its capacity is 21 kt/a, accounting for 1% of the total; the rest of them produce ethyl acetate by esterification of acetic acid with ethanol and have a combined capacity of 1.899 million t/a, accounting for 90.43% of the total. China’s main ethyl acetate producers in 2012 are listed in Table 1.

Table 1 Chain’s main ethyl acetate producers in 2012
Producer    Capacity (kt/a)    Production process
Jiangsu Sopo Group    500    Esterification of acetic acid
Shanghai Wujing Chemical (Huayi Group)    200    Esterification of acetic acid
Shangdong Golden Yinmeng Biotech Co., Ltd.    180    Esterification of acetic acid
Jiangmen Handsome Chemical Development Limited    180    Esterification of acetic acid
Guangdong Shunguan Gas Solvent Co., Ltd.    100    Esterification of acetic acid
Chongqing Yangzijiang Acetyl Chemical Co., Ltd.    100    Esterification of acetic acid
Shangdong Haihua Co., Ltd.    100    Ethanol dehydrogenation  
Yancon Cathay Coal Chemicals Co., Ltd.    100    Esterification of acetic acid
Taixing Jinjiang Chemical    100    Esterification of acetic acid
Rizhao Jiahong Biotech    110    Esterification of acetic acid
Nanchang Ganjiang Dissolvent Factory    80    Esterification of acetic acid
Guangdong Shunde Group Co., Ltd.    45    Esterification of acetic acid
Tianjin Guanda Industrial Co., Ltd.    35    Esterification of acetic acid
Jiangyin Baichuan Chemical Industry Co., Ltd.    30    Ethanol dehydrogenation
Jilin Fuel Ethanol Co., Ltd.    50    Ethanol dehydrogenation
Jiaozuo Jinyulong Industry Co., Ltd.    40    Esterification of acetic acid
Mengzhou Huaxing Industrial Co., Ltd.    30    Esterification of acetic acid
Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical Co., Ltd.    21    Condensation of acetaldehyde
Pearl River Chemical Industry Group Guangzhou Dissolvent Factory    20    Esterification of acetic acid
Shijiazhuang Xinyusanyang Industrial Co., Ltd.    15    Esterification of acetic acid
Tangshan Jidong Solvent Co., Ltd.    20    Esterification of acetic acid
Others    44    
Total    2100    

The domestic output of ethyl acetate in China was 630 kilotons in 2006, and it increased to 1.029 million tons by 2009. In 2011, the figure reached 1.25 million tons, up 13.64% year-on-year. It is expected that the total capacity of ethyl acetate will exceed 2.6 million t/a by 2016.

II. Consumption

With China's economy growing rapidly in recent years, the demand for products such as coatings, inks and adhesives has increased dramatically. As a consequence, the consumption of ethyl acetate has been pulled to grow steadily. The apparent consumption of ethyl acetate in 2006 was only 530 200 tons in China and it increased to 800 100 tons in 2009. In 2011, the figure reached 877 500 tons, up 7.4% year-on-year. The average annual growth rate of the apparent consumption from 2006 to 2011 was about 10.60%. The domestic supply/demand situation of ethyl acetate in recent years is shown in Table 2.

Table 2 Supply/demand situation of ethyl acetate in China of late years
Year    Output (kt)    Import volume (kt)    Export volume(kt)    Apparent Consumption (kt)
2005    473    46.4    18.8    500.6
2006    630    9.6    109.4    530.2
2007    710    7.6    137    580.6
2008    950    1.1    183.9    767.2
2009    1029    0.6    229.5    800.1
2010    1100    0.7    283.7    817
2011    1250    1    373.5    877.5

   Currently, the major application fields of ethyl acetate in China are the production of coatings, pharmaceuticals, adhesives and so on. The consumption structure of ethyl acetate in 2011 was as follows: the demand in the three largest application fields, i.e., coatings, pharmaceuticals and adhesives, accounted for 35.0%, 29.0% and 20.5% of the total domestic demand, respectively; while the demand in the production of inks accounted for 9.5%. It is expected that in 2016, the domestic demand for ethyl acetate will reach 1 to 1.1 million t/a, and the proportion used in pharmaceutical and adhesives industries will decline. With the continuous development of new high-grade coatings, the demand for ethyl acetate in the coating industry is expected to increase substantially. Also, with the development of the electronic and telecommunication industries, the demand for ethyl acetate in ink production will increase. With the broadening of application fields of ethyl acetate, the consumption proportion in other areas will surely increase. Since the capacity will exceed 2.6 million t/a and serious overcapacity is expected by then, the future market competition will be intense.