Vinyl acetate is produced by a catalytic vapour-phase reaction of ethylene and acetic acid in
gas phase, liquid phase or a fluidised-bed process. Five producers of vinyl acetate monomer
(VAM) were identified in Western Europe with a nominal production capacity of 800,000 t/a
(CEFIC). Fluctuating operating rates make it difficult to provide a general figure for the
annual production volume of VAM in the EU.
From the total supply of about 1,045,000 tonnes, some unquantified amounts were exported
outside Western Europe again (figures were not given by industry for confidentiality reasons).
With an end stock2 of less than 50,000 tonnes in 2002, approximately 750,000 tonnes of
VAM were marketed in Western Europe that year (all figures provided by CEFIC Acetyls
Sector Group).