Butyl Acetate: Supply vs Demand, and Development Suggestions

By Pang Yanyan, Dezhou Yatai Group Co., Ltd. and Yang Zhiqiang, Shandong Hualu Hengsheng Group Co., Ltd.

Butyl acetate, also known as butyl ethanoate, is a colorless and transparent liquid with a fruity odor. It is used extensively as a raw material in pharmaceuticals, leather tanning, chemicals and spice processing.

1. Production

The global capacity for butyl acetate was 1.97 million t/a in 2013, and the capacity in Asia was 1.345 million t/a, accounting for 73% of the world total. China’s capacity accounts for more than half of the world total, and the international competitiveness of the butyl acetate produced in China is improving.
The butyl acetate capacity in China was 1.03 million t/a in 2013. Output, however, was only 412 kt. The facilities are mainly distributed in East China (mostly in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shandong) and South China. Market demand for butyl acetate is slack, so the overall operating rate in China is less than 50%. With increasingly fierce market competition, some enterprises have already suspended production and some enterprises have switched over to producing ethyl acetate. Table 1 shows the butyl acetate producers in China in 2013.

Table 1   Butyl acetate producers in China, 2013 (kt/a)

Producer    Capacity    Remark
Wuxi Baichuan Chemical Industrial Co., Ltd.     350    
Jiangmen Handsome Chemical Development Limited     200    
Yancon Cathay Coal Chemicals Co., Ltd.     150    
Linyi Jinyimeng Group Co., Ltd.     150    
Shanghai Shorisalt Chemical Co., Ltd.     60    
Taixing Jinjiang Chemical Co., Ltd.     60    
Guangdong Solvent Plant    30    Can switch to produce ethyl acetate
Tangshan Jidong Solvent Co., Ltd.     20    Can switch to produce ethyl acetate
Others    10    
Total    1 030    


Table 2   Production/sales balance of butyl acetate in China (kt, %)

Year    Capacity    Output    Net export
volume    Apparent
consumption    Operating rate
2010    1 050    560    13.7    546.3    53
2011    840    420    20.1    399.9    50
2012    880    430    22.5    407.5    49
2013    1 030    412    34.5    377.5    40


Table 3   Export of butyl acetate from China (ton)

2012    2013    Jan-Apr 2014
Destination    Export
volume    Destination    Export
volume    Destination    Export
volume
Japan    9 733    Vietnam    15 766    Vietnam    3 893
Vietnam    8 490    Japan    10 209    Japan    2 214
Thailand    2 700    Thailand    2 440    Egypt    1 627
India    2 200    Egypt    2 036    Thailand    1 313
Korea    1 492    India    478    Korea    492


2. Consumption

As the requirements on environmental protection are getting more stringent, people tend to reduce their consumption of solvents such as toluene, xylene and ketones. Butyl acetate is an ideal substitute for these solvents, so it has good application prospects. Butyl acetate is not included in the 188 hazardous air polluting substances (HAPS) specified in the Clean Air Act. In developed countries such as the United States, butyl acetate will gradually replace VOC solvents as an excellent solvent with very low toxicity, and its consumption will increase constantly.
Judging from the production/sales balance of butyl acetate in China during 2010-2013, the apparent consumption is declining slowly, and the operating rates of production units average around 50%. The reasons are two sided. One is the fierce market competition caused by capacity surplus. The other is the high price of butyl acetate. In some areas there are already signs that sec-butyl acetate, with its price advantage, will replace butyl acetate to some extent. The price of butyl acetate was RMB8 000/t at the end of 2013. Owing to its excellent properties and price advantage, it is expected that domestic demand for butyl acetate will pick up, likely reaching 420 kt this year. Table 2 shows the production/sales balance of butyl acetate in China in recent years.
Worldwide demand for butyl acetate was 1.20 million tons in 2013 and is expected to reach 1.35 million tons in 2015. Judging from the development status in recent years, due to impacts from factors such as overcapacity, the high cost of raw materials and the adoption of substitutes, demand for butyl acetate has gradually shrunk. With a reduction of production cost, the demand for butyl acetate in China is hoped to recover somewhat in the future. Moreover, in China, butyl acetate is mainly used in low-end coatings rather than in high-end coatings such as varnishes. An update of the consumption structure will likely boost the demand for butyl acetate in China. The consumption of butyl acetate might well see slow growth rather than continuing decline in the near future. Consumption of butyl acetate in China is mainly concentrated in East China and South China: 56% in East China, 32% in South China and 8% in North China. Figure 1 shows the downstream demand structure of butyl acetate.
Meanwhile, sec-butyl acetate has developed rapidly in recent years. In terms of demand structure, around 40% of sec-butyl acetate is added into gasoline to adjust its octane number. Around 30% is used to replace butyl acetate in downstream sectors such as low-end coatings, paints and inks. The demand for butyl acetate in making some low-end coatings, paints and inks has already been displaced by a preference for sec-butyl acetate, with considerable impact on butyl acetate makers. In the next 2-3 years, overcapacity and fierce competition in the butyl acetate sector will be aggravated.

3. Foreign trade

The volume of butyl acetate exported from China has been higher than the import volume in recent years. First of all, the capacity for acetic acid is in surplus and its domestic price has an evident advantage over the international price. Then, new capacity for making n-butanol in China is on the increase. More options are therefore provided to butyl acetate producers. The probability of drastic price fluctuations of n-butanol is reduced, and its price advantage over foreign products has already begun to show. Moreover, as the processing cost in China is lower than that in some other countries, a sustained increase in export seems inevitable. Figure 2 shows China’s import and export of butyl acetate in recent years.
Export is mainly to Asia, particularly Japan, Vietnam, Thailand, Korea and India. The amounts exported to Vietnam and Japan are the biggest. Table 3 shows the details.

4. Market price

With impacts from capacity surplus, fierce market competition and downstream demand shrinkage, butyl acetate prices in China slid steadily in recent years. Pushed by prices of raw materials, the price of butyl acetate started to stabilize, with some increase, and it floated around RMB8 200/t in 2014. Figure 3 shows the market price trend.
The annual demand for butyl acetate in China has remained around 400 kt in recent years. As a high-grade solvent, butyl acetate can replace methyl isobutyl ketone (MIBK) and aromatic solvents, so its demand in this field will grow rapidly. It is expected that domestic demand for butyl acetate will reach 450 kt next year. With a stable increase of export, the operating rate and the output of butyl acetate will also increase slowly.
As most producers in China use the intermittent esterification process, the production cost is high here. The rising prices of raw materials have also contributed to the low operating rates and even idled units of some producers. With constant technical upgrades, outdated equipment will be phased out, reducing the overall capacity, so the supply of butyl acetate might be reduced. Butyl acetate units with a high technical level and large production scale will therefore still have sound opportunities.

5. Present technology level and development trend

The mainstream process used in the butyl acetate production is still the traditional esterification process, hampered by low energy efficiency. Developing a combined esterification process for ethyl acetate and butyl acetate to relieve the energy inefficiency will be a development orientation for the acetate sector.
The major esterification catalyst used in the commercial production of butyl acetate in China is concentrated sulfuric acid, which unfortunately corrodes the production equipment. The development of new catalysts such as solid acid and ion liquid has already seen breakthrough advances, and demonstrations in commercial units have started. New esterification catalysts can reduce the generation of undesirable byproducts and increase the utilization rates of raw materials. As equipment made of conventional materials can be used with such catalysts, the initial investment in new production units can be greatly reduced.

6. Development suggestions

The butyl acetate sector in China has already developed to a considerably large scale. Products made in China are quite competitive in the international market. Overcapacity, fierce market competition, shrinkage of downstream demand and adoption of substitutes in some sectors demand attention from producers. They should improve the industrial chain with great earnest, further optimize catalysts and processes, improve energy efficiency, reduce production costs, upgrade product quality, develop high-end products and strengthen export. They should also keep in line with the development trends, enhance awareness of the risk of substitutions in production and prepare in advance to cope with various market changes.