Published December 2021
Methyl ethyl ketone (also known as MEK or 2-butanone) is a powerful, commercially important industrial solvent for many substances, especially resinous materials, and has a wide variety of applications, including use in solvent-based adhesives, polyurethane slurry for synthetic leather, paints and coatings, printing inks, and magnetic tapes, as well as use as a dewaxing agent during the refining of lube oils, a degreaser for metal surfaces and electronic devices, and a raw material for manufacturing methyl ethyl ketone oxime.
World MEK consumption is estimated about 1.055 million metric tons in 2021, with Asia accounting for more than 70% of the total. World MEK consumption is forecast to grow at an average annual rate of 2.3% during 2021–26. Most of this growth will be in India, driven by downstream applications, and in mainland China, where its use in three major applications (artificial leather, methyl ethyl ketone oxime production, and electronic device cleaning) are forecast to increase strongly during 2021–26. In addition, MEK consumption in Southeast Asia is expected to increase at an average rate of 3.5% per year. MEK consumption in the developed regions will increase only modestly during the forecast period. The slower world consumption growth (compared with previous years) reflects a slowing recovery of the global economy, competition from other solvents, and technology substitution in the coatings market as powder and waterborne technologies continue to grow at the expense of the solvent-based counterparts.
The following pie chart shows world consumption of methyl ethyl ketone by region in 2021:
In 2021, paints and coatings continues to consume the majority of MEK, and little change in the world MEK market breakdown is expected by 2026. There are slight regional variations, however. Adhesives make up the second-largest share of the MEK market and synthetic leather held the third place in 2021.
For more detailed information, see the table of contents, shown below.
S&P Global’s Chemical Economics Handbook – Methyl Ethyl Ketone is the comprehensive and trusted guide for anyone seeking information on this industry. This latest report details global and regional information, including
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