CAS 64-19-7 · REACH · European Union

Acetic acid under REACH

CH3COOH · 醋酸

Status: Registered. Acetic acid is fully registered under REACH at the highest tonnage band (>1,000,000 tonnes/year) as a foundational organic acid and the dominant downstream product of Cativa-process methanol carbonylation. **Distinguishing pattern: methanol-carbonylation chain (Cativa process uses iridium catalyst with ruthenium promoter; the older Monsanto process which Cativa replaced used rhodium catalyst; the broader rhodium / iridium PGM cycle exposure applies to both technologies; verified against https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cativa_process) (~80% of global production) + downstream coupling to methanol economics (batch 3) + active US AD case number unverified at audit (verify access.trade.gov), see status note + Henan Shenma / Yangmei coal-route concentration.** Moderate hazard profile (Skin Corr. 1A drives engineered controls). NOT SVHC, NOT Annex XIV. NOT subject to Drug Precursors or Explosives Precursors scheduling (acetic anhydride CAS 108-24-7 IS scheduled but acetic acid is not). NO active EU AD case on Chinese-origin acetic acid currently (lighter trade-policy posture than US lane).

Acetic acid is fully REACH-registered with moderate hazard profile (Skin Corr. 1A + Flam. Liq. 3 + Acute Tox. 4 inhalation). The dominant economic story for Chinese-origin acetic acid is the **methanol-carbonylation chain (Cativa process uses iridium catalyst with ruthenium promoter; the older Monsanto process which Cativa replaced used rhodium catalyst; the broader rhodium / iridium PGM cycle exposure applies to both technologies; verified against https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cativa_process)** (~80% of global production via BP / Lyondell licensed Cativa technology + Sinopec / Sinopec Yangzi proprietary routes). **Methanol feedstock cost (batch 3) is dominant** (~50-60% of production cost) so methanol economics flow through to acetic acid economics structurally. NO active EU AD case (lighter trade-policy posture than US lane which has unverified-AD status (verify access.trade.gov)). NOT in CBAM Phase 1. NOT a drug precursor (acetic anhydride downstream IS scheduled but acetic acid is not). Major Chinese producers: Wujing Chemical (Shanghai SECCO), Yangmei Chemical (Shanxi inland coal-route), Henan Longyu Energy, Yangmei Coal-Hengtian (Shanxi coal-route), Sopo Chemical (Jiangsu Yangtze), Sinopec Yanshan. Coal-route producers (~40% of capacity) carry higher embedded CO2 vs gas-route; CBAM Phase 2 candidate. End-use mix dominated by VAM (~30%) + acetic anhydride (~15%) + acetate esters (~15%) + PTA (~10% batch 9 chain) + MCA (~10%).