Acetone Price Trend and Forecast 2026-2027

Key Takeaways

• The global average acetone price, taken as the simple average of seven regional benchmarks, fell from USD 1.00/KG in Q1 2025 to USD 0.83/KG by Q4, a drop of -17.00% across the year. Prices eased again to USD 0.82/KG in Q1 2026, so the slide that defined 2025 carried into the new year rather than reversing.
• The decline was broad but uneven. North East Asia was the steepest faller over the calendar year at -31.40%, going from USD 0.86/KG to USD 0.59/KG as Chinese phenol and acetone capacity kept adding co-product supply that downstream demand could not absorb.
• Europe was the most resilient large market, slipping only -6.25% to USD 1.05/KG. A higher regulatory and energy cost base under REACH and the EU Emissions Trading System kept European acetone trading well above Asian levels through every quarter.
• Two regions actually finished 2025 higher. The Middle East rose +2.56% and South East Asia gained +8.00%, both helped by tighter local availability and steadier solvent demand rather than any single supply shock.

What Is Acetone and Why Does It Matter?

Acetone (CAS 67-64-1, EC 200-662-2, formula C3H6O) is a clear, colourless, fast-evaporating ketone with a sharp, faintly sweet smell. It mixes freely with water and with most common organic solvents, which is a big part of why it shows up everywhere from nail polish remover to industrial reactors.

Over 90 percent of the world's acetone is produced through the cumene route, where cumene is oxidised to a hydroperoxide and then cleaved to give phenol and acetone together in roughly fixed proportions. That means most acetone is a co-product. When phenol and downstream bisphenol A demand is firm, acetone supply stays high regardless of what acetone buyers are doing.

On the demand side, acetone wears two hats. Roughly 40 percent of global volume is used directly as a solvent in coatings, adhesives, cleaning, pharmaceuticals and electronics. The rest feeds chemical synthesis, chiefly bisphenol A (made from acetone and phenol) and methyl methacrylate, with smaller pulls into methyl isobutyl ketone and isopropanol.

Which Sectors Are Driving Acetone Demand?

Solvent applications. Acetone dissolves a wide range of resins and oils, flashes off quickly and leaves little residue, which makes it a workhorse in paints and coatings, adhesives, printing, surface cleaning and degreasing. Demand here moves with general industrial activity, so a soft manufacturing year shows up fast in solvent-grade volumes.

Bisphenol A. Acetone reacts with phenol to make bisphenol A, the building block for polycarbonate plastics and epoxy resins. Electronics, automotive glazing, optical media and construction-grade epoxy all sit downstream of this chain. When polycarbonate and epoxy demand is weak, the bisphenol A pull on acetone weakens with it, and any gap quickly turns into oversupply.

Methyl methacrylate (MMA). A meaningful slice of acetone goes into MMA through the acetone cyanohydrin route, feeding polymethyl methacrylate (acrylic) sheet, coatings and moulding compounds. Signage, lighting, display panels and bathroom fixtures are typical end markets. MMA demand tends to track consumer durables and construction.

Pharmaceuticals and personal care. Pharmaceutical-grade acetone is used as a reaction and purification solvent in drug manufacturing, and it remains a common ingredient in cosmetic and personal care formulations.

Other intermediates. Smaller volumes feed methyl isobutyl ketone, isophorone, isopropanol and various specialty syntheses. None of these dominates, but together they round out a demand base that is diversified enough that no single end use sets the global price on its own.

Global Acetone Price Trend in 2025

The global story for 2025 is straightforward: prices went down, quarter after quarter. The seven-region average opened at USD 1.00/KG in Q1, eased to USD 0.96/KG in Q2, dropped to USD 0.88/KG in Q3, and closed the year at USD 0.83/KG. That is a -17.00% move across four quarters, and the first quarter of 2026 added a little more softness at USD 0.82/KG. The global figure here is the arithmetic average of the Africa, Europe, Middle East, North America, North East Asia, South America and South East Asia benchmarks.

African Acetone Price Trends in 2025

African acetone prices fell harder than almost any other region in 2025, sliding -29.70% from USD 1.01/KG in Q1 to USD 0.71/KG in Q4, then easing again to USD 0.68/KG in early 2026. Africa carries very little domestic acetone production and leans on imports, so when global oversupply pushed offer prices down and freight stayed manageable, that weakness landed directly on African buyers.

European Acetone Price Trends in 2025

Europe was the steadiest major market in 2025 and the most expensive for most of the year. Prices ran from USD 1.12/KG in Q1 to a high near USD 1.15/KG mid-year, then settled at USD 1.05/KG by Q4, a full-year move of only -6.25%. Q1 2026 held flat at USD 1.05/KG.

Middle East Acetone Price Trends in 2025

The Middle East was one of only two regions to end 2025 higher than it started. Prices moved from USD 0.78/KG in Q1 up to the USD 0.84/KG area mid-year, then held around USD 0.80/KG into Q4 and Q1 2026, a full-year gain of +2.56%. It was also the most stable benchmark in the whole dataset, trading inside a tight USD 0.78 to USD 0.84/KG range all year.

North American Acetone Price Trends in 2025

North America started 2025 as the highest-priced region at USD 1.20/KG, then gave most of that back over the year. Prices fell to USD 0.91/KG by Q4 and slipped further to USD 0.86/KG in Q1 2026, a decline of -24.17% across the calendar year. The drop was gentle through the first three quarters and then accelerated sharply into Q4.

North East Asian Acetone Price Trends in 2025

North East Asia was the cheapest region all year and the biggest faller over the calendar year. Prices dropped from USD 0.86/KG in Q1 to USD 0.59/KG in Q4, a slide of -31.40%, before a modest recovery to USD 0.64/KG in Q1 2026.

South American Acetone Price Trends in 2025

South America saw the most dramatic first-half drop of any region. Prices opened high at USD 1.27/KG in Q1, then fell quarter after quarter to USD 0.93/KG by Q4, a full-year decline of -26.77%. Q1 2026 stabilised slightly higher at USD 0.95/KG.

South East Asian Acetone Price Trends in 2025

South East Asia was the other region to finish 2025 higher, gaining +8.00% from USD 0.75/KG in Q1 to USD 0.81/KG in Q4. It then eased back to USD 0.77/KG in Q1 2026. Like the Middle East, it stayed within a narrow band, between USD 0.75 and USD 0.81/KG, for the whole year.

What Factors Drove Acetone Costs in 2025?

Cumene co-product supply. This is the master factor. Because more than 90 percent of acetone is a co-product of phenol via the cumene route, acetone supply is set by how hard producers run their phenol units, not by acetone demand. Through 2025 phenol output stayed high, so acetone kept arriving in volume even as its own buyers pulled back.

Chinese capacity additions. North East Asia kept adding cumene and phenol capacity, and the extra acetone that came with it had to find a home. That regional surplus pushed North East Asian prices down -31.40% over the year and set a competitive global floor, because cheap Asian-origin material became the reference point for import-dependent markets in Africa, South America and beyond.

Soft bisphenol A and MMA demand. Acetone's two big chemical outlets, bisphenol A and methyl methacrylate, were subdued in 2025 as polycarbonate, epoxy and acrylic demand tracked a weak global construction and durable-goods cycle.

Regional cost and regulatory differences. Europe's REACH and EU Emissions Trading System costs, and the Middle East's low feedstock base, explain why those two regions barely moved while others fell. These are durable structural differences, not temporary spreads, and they are the main reason the same molecule traded across a roughly USD 0.46/KG range between regions in Q4 2025.

Freight and import dynamics. For regions that import most of their acetone, landed cost is a blend of the offer price and shipping. Manageable freight in 2025 meant the global surplus passed through cleanly to African and South American buyers, deepening their declines, while integrated regions with local supply were better insulated.

Acetone Market Forecast for 2026

The honest read on 2026 is that the heavy lifting on the downside has mostly happened. Q1 2026 came in at USD 0.82/KG globally, only -1.20% below Q4 2025, so the slide is flattening rather than accelerating. The direction from here depends on two things: whether bisphenol A and methyl methacrylate demand recovers enough to absorb co-product acetone, and whether Chinese phenol operating rates stay high.

Europe and the Middle East should stay at the firmer end on structural cost grounds, North East Asia should remain the cheapest market with the most exposure to further co-product pressure, and the import-dependent regions will broadly track wherever Asian offer prices and freight settle.

Key Analyst Insights for the Acetone Market

The most useful thing to understand about acetone is that it is a passenger, not a driver. Its price is set upstream by phenol economics and downstream by bisphenol A and methyl methacrylate demand.

The regional spread is the second big takeaway, and it is durable. A roughly USD 0.46/KG gap between North East Asia and Europe in Q4 2025 is not an arbitrage window that will close. It reflects real differences in feedstock cost, energy, carbon pricing and regulatory overhead. For a procurement team, the practical question is not what the global average is doing but which regional cost structure applies to your supply, because that is what actually sets your price.

North East Asian prices reaching the USD 0.59/KG area in Q4 2025 took them close to production-cost economics for many producers, and the small Q1 2026 rebound to USD 0.64/KG is consistent with a market that has found support.

Key Takeaways for Buyers and Manufacturers

For Buyers

• Benchmark against the right region. The same acetone traded near USD 0.59/KG in North East Asia and USD 1.05/KG in Europe in Q4 2025. Know which regional cost base sets your landed price before you judge whether an offer is fair.
• Treat the North East Asian price as the global floor. With prices near production cost there in Q4 2025, Asian-origin material set the competitive reference for import-dependent markets. Any offer well above Asian landed cost is worth challenging unless quality or regulatory needs justify it.
• Use the flattening trend to time contracts. The move from -5.68 percent in Q4 2025 to -1.20 percent in Q1 2026 suggests the market is stabilising, which favours locking in coverage near the lows rather than waiting for further large drops.

For Manufacturers

• Since you cannot easily separate the two, manage the chain as one. When acetone is in surplus, value is best captured by converting it downstream into bisphenol A, methyl methacrylate or isopropanol rather than selling spot into a falling market.
• European and Middle East producers held price while others fell. If you sell into a structurally higher-cost or better-balanced region, defend that premium with reliable supply and quality documentation rather than chasing volume.
• North East Asian additions drove the 2025 decline. New investment should assume continued co-product oversupply and focus on downstream integration or specialty and pharmaceutical-grade tiers that command a steadier premium.