my country’s methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) production capacity is overcapacity and the future market space remains to be explored
Methyl tert-butyl ether, MTBE for short, is an organic compound with the chemical formula C5H12O. It appears as a colorless and transparent liquid. It is toxic, flammable, explosive and volatile. It is insoluble in water and soluble in ethanol, ether, Aliphatic hydrocarbons, aromatic hydrocarbons and other solvents.
At present, the main process path of methyl tert-butyl ether refers to the process of using isobutylene in carbon tetrahydrocarbons (C4 hydrocarbons) to react with methanol to generate methyl tert-butyl ether. Methanol and C4 hydrocarbons are the key raw materials for methyl tert-butyl ether. In 2022, my country’s methanol production capacity has exceeded 98 million tons, and C4 hydrocarbon production capacity has exceeded 1.8 million tons. The sufficient supply of upstream raw materials has laid the foundation for the development of the domestic methyl tert-butyl ether industry. A good foundation.
Methyl tert-butyl ether has excellent properties such as high octane number, good anti-knock performance and high combustion degree. It is a key raw material for the production of finished gasoline. It can also be cracked to produce high-purity isobutylene, which is widely used in butyl rubber, polyisobutylene, etc. Chemical product production scene. Methyl tert-butyl ether has a wide range of applications, among which finished gasoline is its main demand end. Currently, against the background of the continuous increase in domestic gasoline consumption, its market demand is increasing.
According to the “China Methyl Tert-Butyl Ether (MTBE) Industry Market Monitoring and Future Development Prospects from 2023 to 2027″ released by the Industrial Research Center Research Report” shows that with favorable raw materials and demand, there are a large number of methyl tert-butyl ether companies in my country. The main companies include Shi Dashenghua Chemical, Yuxin Chemical, Qixiang Tengda Chemical, Shouguang Luqing Petrochemical , CNOOC Dongfang Petrochemical, Liaoning Jinlian Petrochemical, Qinzhou Tianheng Petrochemical, Panjin Heyun Industrial, etc. As local companies continue to release production capacity, domestic methyl tert-butyl ether production capacity will reach approximately 24.155 million tons in 2022, and my country has become the world’s main producer of methyl tert-butyl ether.
However, affected by the rapid development of the new energy vehicle industry, the growth rate of domestic consumption of gasoline and its raw material methyl tert-butyl ether is gradually slowing down. Overall, against the background of continued growth in production capacity and gradual slowdown in demand growth, my country’s methyl tert-butyl ether is currently in a period of overcapacity, with a capacity utilization rate of around 58%. Domestic companies will need to continue to expand product application space in the future. , Promote the healthy and sustainable development of the industry.
As another application field of methyl tert-butyl ether, butyl rubber is expected to become one of the main demand ends of methyl tert-butyl ether. Butyl rubber is a type of polymer compound with excellent performance and wide application. It is a key raw material for the production of tires and medicinal rubber stoppers, and has broad market development prospects. In the future, driven by the rapid development of the domestic butyl rubber market, demand for methyl tert-butyl ether, as one of its upstream raw materials, is expected to continue to rise.
Industry analysts said that methyl tert-butyl ether is a key raw material for the production of finished gasoline, and the scale of domestic automobile production and sales continues to expand. Against this background, the continuous expansion of gasoline consumption has driven its market demand to continue to increase. Driven by market growth and favorable supply of raw materials, domestic production capacity of methyl tert-butyl ether continues to be released, and my country has become a major producer in the world. But at the same time, domestic methyl tert-butyl ether has gradually entered a situation of overcapacity. In the future, the industry will need to accelerate the expansion of product demand space and promote the healthy and sustainable development of the industry.
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