Vinyl acetate (VAC) is an important organic chemical raw material with the molecular formula of C4H6O2, also known as vinyl acetate and vinyl acetate. Vinyl acetate is mainly used in the production of polyvinyl alcohol, ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer (EVA resin), ethylene-vinyl alcohol copolymer (EVOH resin), vinyl acetate-vinyl chloride copolymer (vinyl chloride resin), white latex, acrylic fiber and other products. It is widely used in the fields of synthetic fiber, coating, slurry, film, leather processing, soil improvement, and has a broad prospect of development and utilization. The process routes of vinyl acetate include carbide acetylene method, natural gas acetylene method and petroleum ethylene method. The carbide acetylene method is mainly used in China, and the production capacity of carbide acetylene method will reach 62% in 2020.
In recent years, the market demand of vinyl acetate in China has shown an overall upward trend. According to the statistics of China Chemical Fiber Industry Association, in 2016, the apparent consumption of vinyl acetate in China was 1.94 million tons, which increased to 2.33 million tons in 2019. Affected by the COVID-19 in the first half of 2020, the operating rate of downstream industries was low, leading to a small decline in the apparent consumption of vinyl acetate to 2.16 million tons; With the stabilization of the epidemic situation in the second half of the year and the rapid recovery of economic production, the demand for vinyl acetate recovered rapidly from the second half of 2020 to the first half of 2021, the market price rose significantly, and the industry recovered.
The demand structure of vinyl acetate in China is relatively stable, with polyvinyl alcohol, polyvinyl acetate, VAE lotion and EVA resin as the main products. In 2020, the proportion of polyvinyl alcohol in the domestic consumption structure of vinyl acetate will reach 65%, and the total proportion of polyvinyl acetate, VAE lotion and EAV resin will be 31%.
At present, China has the largest capacity of vinyl acetate in the world. In 2020, China’s capacity of vinyl acetate will reach 2.65 million tons, accounting for about 40% of the world’s total capacity. In recent years, the backward capacity in China’s vinyl acetate industry has gradually withdrawn, and advanced capacity has been added to fill the market gap. With the continuous optimization of the industry supply structure, China’s vinyl acetate production has shown an overall growth trend. According to the statistics of the China Chemical Fiber Industry Association, the domestic vinyl acetate production has increased from 1.91 million tons in 2016 to 2.28 million tons in 2019, with a compound annual growth rate of 5.98%; In 2020, due to the low international oil price, the production cost of overseas petroleum ethylene method was reduced, the import of vinyl acetate in China increased, and the domestic production of vinyl acetate decreased to 1.99 million tons; Since the second half of 2020, with the global economic recovery and the rise of international oil prices, the production of domestic vinyl acetate industry has warmed up.