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Acetone (dimethyl ketone, 2-propanone, CH3COCH3) is a clear, colorless, volatile liquid with a sweet odor. It is both the simplest aliphatic ketone and the most commercially important. Nearly all world production of acetone is via cumene peroxidation, as a coproduct with phenol. Its main use is as a chemical intermediate in the manufacture of acetone cyanohydrin for methyl methacrylate, bisphenol A and aldol chemicals. Direct solvent applications also account for a large portion of world demand.
Direct solvent applications and acetone cyanohydrin/methyl methacrylate (ACH/MMA) each accounted for 29% of global acetone consumption in 2007, followed by bisphenol A (BPA) at 22%. The other large market for acetone is aldol chemicals (includes methyl isobutyl ketone, methyl isobutyl carbinol and isophorone). The “other” category may contain small amounts of acetone for aldol chemicals and MMA.
Demand for MMA, BPA and acetone in direct solvent applications is greatly influenced by general economic conditions. As a result, demand for acetone largely follows the ups and downs of the world’s leading economies.
The following pie chart shows world demand for acetone:
Growth rates for end-use markets vary by region. Consumption of acetone for BPA will be driven by growth in Asia and the Middle East. Increased demand and capacity for BPA will result in strong demand for acetone in these regions. Overall, world consumption of acetone for BPA is forecast to grow at an average annual rate of about 5% during 2007–2012. Consumption of acetone for MMA shows more regional variation than BPA. In the United States, Western Europe and Japan, acetone consumption for MMA is forecast to grow slowly during 2007–2012, in contrast to Southeast Asia, where annual consumption is forecast to grow at healthy rates. Global MMA consumption is forecast to grow moderately during 2007–2012.
Over 1.5 million metric tons of acetone are slated to come on stream by the end of 2012, primarily in Asia (excluding Japan) as a result of healthy demand from the downstream products BPA and MMA in the region.
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