What is the capacity and import dependence of acetic acid in China?

China's acetic acid production capacity and import dependence analysis

Acetic acid, as an important basic chemical product, is widely used in chemical industry, food, medicine, agriculture and other fields. In recent years, with the rapid development of China's chemical industry, the production capacity and market demand of acetic acid have shown a significant growth trend. What is the development status of China's acetic acid industry? Has its production capacity met domestic demand? Is there still import dependence? This article will analyze in detail from three aspects: production capacity status, import dependence and future development trends.

1. China acetic acid production capacity status

China is one of the world's largest chemical producers and consumers. As a basic chemical, the production capacity of acetic acid has experienced rapid growth in the past few decades. According to data from the China Chemical Industry Federation, by the end of 2022, China's acetic acid production capacity has exceeded 20 million tons/year, accounting for more than 60% of the global total production capacity. Among them, Jiangsu Province, Shandong Province and Zhejiang Province are the most concentrated areas of domestic acetic acid production enterprises. These areas have become the top priority of acetic acid production capacity by virtue of their superior geographical location, perfect industrial chain and rich resources.

In recent years, China's acetic acid industry has also focused on technological upgrading and plant optimization in capacity expansion. Large enterprises through the introduction of international advanced technology and equipment, and constantly improve production efficiency and product quality. For example, acetic acid plants in the domestic market are generally developing in the direction of large-scale and intelligent, and the production capacity of a single unit has reached the level of one million tons, which not only effectively reduces production costs, but also improves market competitiveness.

Nevertheless, the growth of acetic acid production capacity in China is not without problems. Due to the slowdown in market demand growth, overcapacity has appeared in some areas, resulting in intensified market competition and a decline in corporate profitability. The tightening of environmental protection policies has also put forward new requirements for the production capacity layout of the acetic acid industry.

2. China's Acetic Acid Import Dependence Status

Although China's acetic acid production capacity is huge, the market demand is still strong, and some high-end products still need to rely on imports. According to statistics from the General Administration of Customs, China's imports of acetic acid and acetate in 2022 will be about 1.2 million tons, and the import amount will exceed US $1 billion. The main import source countries include the United States, the European Union, Japan and South Korea. The production and export technology of acetic acid in these regions is relatively advanced, and the product quality and added value are high, which can meet the needs of the domestic high-end market.

Judging from the types of imported products, China mainly imports acetic acid esters, acetic anhydride and fine chemicals containing acetic acid. These products have important uses in the fields of electronics, medicine and food, and the domestic production technology of such products is not yet fully mature, resulting in the high-end market is still dominated by foreign companies.

The existence of import dependence reflects the technical bottleneck of China's acetic acid industry in the field of high-end products. Although domestic enterprises have strong competitiveness in the production of ordinary acetic acid, they still need further breakthroughs in the research and development of refined and high value-added products.

3. Future Development Trend and Suggestions

In the next few years, the development of China's acetic acid industry will show the following trends:

1. Capacity Optimization and Structural Adjustment Driven by the national environmental protection policy and the "double carbon" goal, inefficient production capacity will be gradually eliminated, and the industry concentration will be further improved. It is expected that large enterprises and leading companies will occupy a larger market share through technological upgrading and scale expansion.

2. High-end and diversified development Domestic enterprises will increase investment in research and development, focusing on breaking through the production technology of high-end acetic acid and its derivatives. With the expansion of downstream applications, the market demand for acetic acid in new energy, high-end chemicals and other fields will increase rapidly.

3. Import substitution goes hand in hand with export growth With the improvement of domestic technology, the process of import substitution of high-end acetic acid products will accelerate. With this, China will also become an important exporter of acetic acid and derivatives in the world, further enhancing its international competitive advantage.

In view of the current situation, it is recommended that the government and enterprises take the following measures:

• Strengthen technical research and development support, promote high-end product localization process;
• Optimize the industrial layout, to avoid overcapacity brought about by vicious competition;
• Promote green production process popularization, reduce energy consumption and emissions, improve environmental protection level.

Conclusion

The production capacity and import dependence of China's acetic acid industry reflect the opportunities and challenges in the development of the industry. Although domestic production capacity has formed a certain scale advantage, further breakthroughs are still needed in the field of high-end products. In the future, with technological progress and industrial structure optimization, China is expected to occupy a more important position in the global acetic acid market. The joint efforts of the government and enterprises will be the key to promote the high-quality development of the industry and achieve import substitution.