Tight Supply Keeps Asian Acrylic Acid And Acrylates Market On Its Toes

Across Asia, demand is picking up as the market for acrylic acid and acrylates is entering its peak
season, although there are indications that the pandemic may impact negatively on demand in the fourth quarter.

Some buyers report having had problems with shipments of acrylic acid out of China this month. This is in common with other hazardous products, as Chinese ports have been tending to prioritize non-hazardous shipments, causing delays to shipments of chemicals such as acrylic acid.

Production of acrylic acid and acrylate esters in China has been impacted by the ongoing energy consumption restrictions in parts of the country which have led to reduced operating rates and even temporary closures at certain chemical plants in China. Several plants in Jiangsu Province have been closed in order to achieve energy usage targets. These include Jiangsu Sunke, Jiangsu Sanmu and JinJiang Chemical.

A series of shutdowns have been taking place in September including Wanhua Chemical, CNOOC and Shandong Kaitai. Other plants have recently restarted production including Sunke and Formosa Ningbo. Zhejiang Satellite is also reported to have been running some of its units at fairly low rates since July. For August, the overall operating rates of acrylic acid in China were assessed at around 76%, whilst butyl acrylate reached approximately 73% of capacity.