English 
English Views: 11 Author: Site Editor Publish Time: 2022-09-16 Origin: Site
The production of domestic acetic acid industry started in the middle of the last century. At the beginning, the production processes were ethanol acetaldehyde method and acetylene acetaldehyde method. After the 1980s, the mainstream process was ethylene method to produce acetic acid. After 2007, the mainstream of the production process became methanol carbonylation process using methanol as raw material. The domestic acetic acid market was in a state of oversupply for a long time. After 2000, the domestic production capacity showed a year-on-year growth trend, reaching a peak of nearly 10 million tons at the end of 2015. However, the output of that year was less than 6 million tons, and the capacity utilization rate was low. After 2016, the industry actively implemented measures to reduce production capacity, and domestic acetic acid production capacity did not increase but decreased in the next few years. By the end of 2021, the actual effective capacity of domestic acetic acid plants was 10.81 million tons / year, about half of the global capacity.
Acetic acid, also known as glacial acetic acid, is a colorless liquid with pungent smell at normal temperature. Its freezing point is 16.6 ℃, and it is colorless crystal after solidification. Acetic acid is an important chemical reagent and organic chemical product. The main raw materials are methanol, ethanol, acetaldehyde, acetylene, ethylene, carbon monoxide, catalysts, etc. The application fields are PTA, vinyl acetate, acetate, acetic anhydride, chloroacetic acid, diketene, etc. it is an important raw material for synthetic fibers, adhesives, pharmaceuticals, dyes and pesticides. In addition, it is an excellent organic solvent and is widely used in chemical, textile, plastic, medicine and dye industries.
In China, acetic acid is mainly used to produce vinyl acetate, acetate and PTA, among which terephthalic acid (PTA) accounts for 28%; Vinyl acetate 19%; Ethyl acetate 18%; Monochloroacetic acid 7%; Diketene 7%; Acetic anhydride 7%; Butyl acetate 5%; Isobutyl acetate 2%; Other 7%.
With the acetic acid industry controlling new production capacity, reducing production costs and the growth of downstream product market, China's acetic acid market has achieved a turn for the better. As an important chemical raw material and intermediate, acetic acid is used to produce PTA, vinyl acetate, acetate, acetic anhydride and chloroacetic acid. With the rapid development of PTA industry, China's acetic acid industry has entered a rapid and healthy development path, which is manifested by the normalization of corporate profits. At the same time that the demand for acetic acid in China is increasing, the new production capacity has entered the production stage one after another, and the supply has increased accordingly. In the first half of 2022, the price of acetic acid has been fluctuating downward. As of June 20, 2022, the price of domestic acetic acid has fallen to around 4000 yuan / ton. In the future, the price of domestic acetic acid may gradually return to the normal level, and the scale of the acetic acid market may slowly decline.
According to customs statistics, China's total export of acetic acid from January to June 2022 was about 533400 tons, while that from January to June 2021 was about 449000 tons.
In terms of export destinations (as shown in the table below), India was still China's largest export region in the first half of the year, accounting for 50% of the total export volume; The second largest export volume is Belgium, accounting for 15.17% of the total export volume; The number of exports to South Korea decreased.
In the first half of the year, the price of crude oil remained high, which reflected the cost advantage of domestic coal to acetic acid; In addition, affected by the interruption of raw material supply, several acetic acid plants in the United States have also been shut down, and the supply gap in Europe and the United States has increased. At present, the crude oil price has dropped, and the international acetic acid plant has returned to normal, which is not conducive to export. However, there is no new production capacity of foreign acetic acid for the time being, and China's position as a global acetic acid control center will not change. In addition to maintaining the regular export volume of acetic acid in the second half of the year, we still need to pay attention to the operation of foreign units. It is conservatively estimated that the total export volume of acetic acid in China in the second half of the year will be between 450000-500000 tons.
