PERP Program - Vinyl Acetate Report
Global production of VAM reached almost 4.9 million metric tons in 2005. About 27 percent of VAM production is currently controlled by Celanese. Lyondell, DOW, Dairen, DuPont, and BP all fall in the 5-8 percent range. There are, however, many producers with smaller capacities. Regardless of the individual producer's capacity, approximately 80 percent of these production plants have been in operation for more than 25 years, and some continue to use older process technology that utilizes acetylene feedstock, not ethylene.
The industrial manufacturing of VAM was first developed by Wacker via the vapor phase reaction of acetic acid and acetylene during the early 1930s. Virtually all VAM was produced by this technology until the early 1960s when the advent of selective transition metal oxidation catalysts enabled the replacement of acetylene by ethylene as the feedstock. The ethylene based routes to VAM production moved to the forefront because of the lower raw material cost, which translated into lower cost product.
Many companies and research institutes have been working to improve the conventional vapor phase ethylene acetoxylation VAM process. Two companies, BP and Celanese Chemicals, have succeeded in the development of VAM technologies that overcome some of the inherent disadvantages of the conventional fixed bed process.
Stand-alone and integrated production economics for vinyl acetate manufacture are presented in the report for a conventional VAM process, BP LEAP process and Celanese’s Vantage process. Both the BP and Celanese process technologies show a modest improvement over conventional technology. Cost of production assessments for acetic acid using conventional methanol carbonylation and state-of-the-art BP Cativa and Celanese Acid Optimization processes are also presented.
Owing to the rapidly growing use of acetylene in China to produce vinyl chloride monomer, we have explored the use of coal-based acetylene to make vinyl acetate in China. Economics of a notional 450 million pound per year acetylene-based VAM plant in China shows that Chinese VAM based on acetylene can be competitive in some world markets, even after allowing for shipping and tariffs.
Vinyl acetate monomer is a key intermediate in a wide range of end products. Polyvinyl acetate (PVAc), used mainly for adhesives, accounts for about half of VAM use. Polyvinyl alcohol (PVOH), which is used for textiles, films, adhesives, and photosensitive coatings, consumes about 28 percent of VAM produced. PVAc and PVOH together consume more than three quarters of VAM produced.
Other uses of VAM include ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA), vinyl acetate ethylene (VAE), polyvinyl butyral (PVB), ethylene vinyl alcohol (EVOH), polyvinyl formal (PVF), and vinyl chloride-vinyl acetate copolymer. EVA, which has less than 50 percent vinyl acetate in content, is mainly used for films and wire and cable insulation, accounting for about 7 percent of VAM use. Major applications for vinyl chloride-vinyl acetate copolymer include coatings, paints, and adhesives, representing about 5 percent of VAM. VAE, which contains more than 50 percent vinyl acetate, is primarily used as cement additives, paints, and adhesives. PVB is mainly used for interlayer in laminated safety glass, coatings, and inks. EVOH is used for barrier films and engineering polymers. PVF is used for wire enamel and magnetic tape.
VAM Global Capacity Share (2005)
Celanese is the leading VAM producer, with 27 percent of capacity, following its acquisition of Acetex. Lyondell, which acquired Millennium Chemical in late 2004, is presently a distant second at 8 percent of capacity. Dairen has a 350 KMTA unit under construction in Mailiao, Taiwan for start-up in 2007. At that time, its global capacity share will jump from 6 percent to 11 percent. Dow, DuPont, and BP are all in the 5 to 6 percent range of global capacity.
These reports are for the exclusive use of the purchasing company or its subsidiaries, from Nexant, Inc., 44 South Broadway, 5th Floor, White Plains, New York 10601-4425 U.S.A. For further information about these reports contact Dr. Jeffrey S. Plotkin, Vice President and Global Director, PERP Program, phone: 1-914-609-0315; fax: 1-914-609-0399; e-mail: jplotkin@nexant.com; or Heidi Junker Coleman, phone: 1-914-609-0381, e-mail address: hcoleman@nexant.com.
©2007 Nexant, Inc.
