Acetic Acid

Acetic Acid, Food Grade - MSDS - Acetic Acid, Chemically Pure - MSDS

We believe we have one of the lowest cost acetic acid facilities in the world. We utilize BP Chemicals’ proprietary carbonylation technology, or Cativa Technology, which we believe offers several advantages over competing production methods, including lower energy requirements and lower fixed and variable costs.

Acetic acid is a clear, colorless, mobile liquid with a pungent odor and acidic taste. It is used primarily to manufacture vinyl acetate monomer, or VAM, which is a mature market with growth around GDP levels. VAM is used in a variety of end products, including adhesives, textiles, paints and paper.

We have the third largest production capacity for acetic acid in North America. Our acetic acid unit has a rated annual production capacity of approximately 1.1 billion pounds, which represents approximately 17% of total North American capacity. Currently, we are expecting to expand rated annual production capacity in 2009 to 1.2 billion pounds through a low-cost debottlenecking opportunity. Our competitors are Celanese AG, Eastman Chemical Company and LyondellBasell Chemical Company. We sell all of our acetic acid production to BP Amoco Chemical Company pursuant to a long-term production agreement that expires in 2031.