Asia Market Demand

Acetic market demand in the industry in Asia are highly demanded. According to ICIS
(2020), in Singapore, due to capacity additions in the purified terephthalic acid (PTA) and
vinyl acetate monomer (VAM) sectors in Northeast Asia, Asia's acetic acid market will see
stronger downstream demand this year. In South Korea, domestic consumption is set to grow
as in the first quarter of 2020, Korea Alcohol Industrial is considering debottlenecking its
120,000 ton/year ethyl acetate plant by 10,000 ton/year. That would boost the demand for
acetic acid to about 88,000 tons out of the existing 80,000 tons.

India Acetic acid Imports from Jan to Nov 2019

(tonnes)
34528 31595
37972
25297
301021
161109

212442

China Malaysia Singapore Middle East Taiwan USA Others

Figure 1: Pie chart of Acetic acid (tons) import by India (Jan to Nov 2019)

Figure 1 shows the amount of import acetic acid in India from January to November 2019. As
shown in the pie chart, China dominate the amount followed by Malaysia and Singapore.
Middle east, Taiwan, and USA has the lowest amount among others.

In its Acetic Acid (Quality Control) Order 2019, the Central Government of India ordered that
imports of acetic acid follow to and bear the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) Indian Standard
label of IS 695:1986 under a BIS license effective 2 February 2020.

Earlier in December, spot acetic acid prices across Asia were down at three-year lows due to
ample supply after plant turnarounds were completed for the year, coupled with relatively
high acetic acid plant utilization levels in China at 85-91 percent capacity in the fourth
quarter. China's domestic acetic acid price premium over the cost of methanol feedstock had
also fallen to unhealthy levels by the end of December, which may cause producers to follow
strict market discipline.
According to P&S Intelligence, Asia-Pacific retained a significant market share during the
historic period among all these regions. This can be due in large part to the rapidly
progressing industrial sector in countries like China and India. In addition, APAC countries
like China, Japan, India, and Vietnam are the major hubs for the manufacture of various
chemicals and textile goods, which are the major end-use industries for the acid.

Asia-Pacific dominates on the global market for acetic acid. Because of the strong industrial
base, the region is projected to be the largest market for the textile industry. Population
growth and improved economic conditions also drive the region's market. China is the
world's biggest market for acetic acid. The nation accounted for about over 30% of global
consumption (Report and Data, 2020).

According to Global Information Inc (2020), In the last decade, China's demand for acetic
acid has risen at a rapid rate. Both supply and demand will continue to grow in the next
decade. The Chinese economy is sustaining a high-speed growth that has been stimulated for
over two decades by successive rises in industrial output, import & export, consumer
demand, and capital investment.

2018 Acetic Acid Demand by Major Region

Others
Europe
4%
South America 8%
1%
North America
12% Asia
48%

China
27%

Asia China North America South America Europe Others

Figure 2: Acetic Acid Demand by Major region in 2018

Based on Figure 2 above, it is clearly that Asia is one of the largest Acetic Acid consumer.
Asia dominate the chart with 48% percent which is nearly half of the percentage is Acetic
Acid demand. Clearly stated that, The Asian world, led by China, has clearly produced the
largest growth in demand for acetic acid in recent history (MMSA, 2019).