Butyl acetate

Butyl acetate (butac) remains a mature market, with slow growth at best tied to GDP and dependent on a healthy economy, particularly on buoyant coatings and automotive sectors.

However, growth could be limited by continued development of coatings technology that uses little or no solvent. Tariffs are another potential obstacle. Brazil's Camara de Comercio Exterior (CAMEX), the chamber of international commerce, announced in February it may raise import tariffs on many foreign products, with US butac among about a dozen petrochemicals targeted for duties.

The fastest growth is likely to be seen in Asia, mainly driven by the paints and coatings sector. Global capacity is sufficient and there is enough installed capacity to meet demand. Most producers have spare capacity and there is more potential to debottleneck existing plants to meet any unexpected growth.

Butac prices in Asia are expected to remain largely driven by feedstock price movements because of the length in supply and slow demand growth in most countries. Feedstock n-butanol (NBA) prices are expected to be under downward pressure in 2014 from capacity expansion in China in the second half of 2013.

Updated to mid-May 2013