Acetylene Price | Current and Historical
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See monthly Acetylene prices in 5 locations: United States, Europe, China. Also check Acetylene price history since 2007. The chart below is a sample of Intratec Primary Commodity Prices - subscribe now and gain access to current prices of 237 commodities, including Acetylene.
Data Legend. The Acetylene price chart shows the prices in USA Dollar per metric ton (USD/mt) in 3 locations, as follows:
- US: Acetylene, United States, cash cost
- EUR: Acetylene, Europe, cash cost, Germany
- CN: Acetylene, China, cash cost
Data Use. Acetylene prices are provided as an annual subscription where subscribers have access to reliable pricing data of 237 commodities worldwide. To better understand data provided by Intratec Primary Commodity Prices, check the following documents: Price Assessment Basis , Commodities Specifications , Methodology , User Guide , and Glossary .
Intratec Primary Commodity Prices
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Price Dynamics. The Acetylene price in United States increased during November 2018 to 1,150 USD per metric ton, which represents a slight rise of 4% compared to the previous month’s value. On a year-over-year basis, Acetylene prices in United States increased significantly by 7%. Meanwhile, in Germany, the average price of Acetylene amounted to 1,860 USD per metric ton, from 1,800 USD per metric ton one year earlier. On a month-over-month basis, the Acetylene price in Germany is 4% lower than the price one month before.
The price of Acetylene in China declined slightly throughout November 2018, reaching 1,820 USD per metric ton. The price in China is 0.5% lower than the average price in the previous month and 8% lower than the average price one year before.
About Acetylene. Acetylene (a.k.a. Ethyne), the simplest hydrocarbon with a triple bond, is an unstable, highly reactive hydrocarbon. Ethyne was the most important building block of industrial organic chemistry in the past, but lost its position to ethylene and other olefins with the rise of the oil industry. However, it is still a very important commercial compound.
Acetylene is produced on a commercial scale largely from hydrocarbon feedstocks, mainly natural gas, or as a coproduct from ethylene production. Such hydrocarbon-based production processes are grouped under two categories according to the energy source, namely electricity or combustion. In the so-called partial combustion process, the combustion of part of the hydrocarbon feed provides the heat required to produce acetylene; a broad range of carbon-containing raw materials can be used, being natural gas the main one. In electrothermic processes, electric arc/arc plasma provide the energy required for cracking light hydrocarbons to acetylene. To a lesser extent, Acetylene is still produced via the calcium carbide process, where it is generated by the reaction between calcium carbide and water.
Since Acetylene can decompose explosively by contact with hot bodies, electrostatic sparks, or by compression, it is usually not shipped nor stored; instead, the Acetylene produced is often immediately consumed.
Acetylene was initially produced by the reaction between calcium carbide and water with the release of heat and hydrated lime, Ca(OH)2, as a by-product. Subsequently, thermal cracking processes using methane and other hydrocarbons emerged and, finally, partial oxidation and regenerative processes were introduced. Raw materials and the respective production processes employed in the manufacturing of Acetylene are listed below.
- Natural gas + n-butane (Huels electric arc process; coproduced with ethylene),
- Calcium carbide (hydrolysis),
- Natural gas + oxygen (SBA process; coproduced with synthesis gas),
- Naphtha, heavy/natural gas + oxygen (Montecatini autothermic process; coproduced with synthesis gas),
- Natural gas + oxygen (BASF partial combustion process; coproduced with synthesis gas)
The uses and applications of Acetylene may vary according to its specification. The main forms of Acetylene are grade D (98.0% of purity); welding grade (98.8% of purity); and purified acetylene (99.6% of purity).
Vinyl chloride and 1,4-butanediol monomers aforementioned are widely used, in turn, in the production of polymers for surface coatings; containers; pipe; adhesives and several other products.
