What is driving the recent surge in methyl acetate prices in China?

What is driving the recent surge in methyl acetate prices in China?
Methyl acetate prices in China have spiked sharply, tracking a broader acetic acid rally. On February 22, domestic acetic acid prices jumped 13.75% day-on-day to around 5,997 yuan/ton, with February gains nearing 20%. Methyl acetate followed suit, rising 12.15% to 6,000 yuan/ton. The root cause is tight supply: multiple plants, including Henan Shunda, Anhui Huayi, and Hualu Hengsheng, are offline for maintenance or unplanned shutdowns. Downstream demand remains firm, supported by stable operating rates at major consumers and the continued outage of Celanese's US facility. Producers have leveraged this window to push through substantial price hikes, and with supply constraints expected to persist in the near term, prices are likely to stay elevated.