Due to weak demand and stable supply, the Belgium ethyl acetate market remained under pressure in the first part of March 2025, with prices settling at lower levels.  Market sentiment remained muted in spite of steady imports and steady output. Ethyl Acetate’s feedstock acetic acid and ethanol prices remained unchanged, preventing any major input cost-driven price movement while declining freight rates from North America increased import competitiveness.

However, Ethyl Acetate demand from key downstream industries, including paints, coatings, adhesives, and printing inks, showed no signs of recovery, leading to sluggish Ethyl Acetate procurement activity. Belgium’s construction sector indicated early signs of stabilization, which could support coatings demand, but rising material costs, labour shortages, and regulatory constraints continued to hinder expansion. Additionally, trade tensions between the US and the EU, with newly imposed tariffs and retaliatory measures, contributed to market uncertainty and dampened sentiment.

The European Ethyl Acetate market maintained adequate supply levels in March, with steady imports preventing shortages. Weak upstream market conditions, combined with stable energy costs, kept overall production expenses subdued. Freight rates from North America to Europe continued to decline due to weak post-Lunar New Year demand and improving global supply chain conditions. Shipping rates from Asia to Europe remained stable, though some carriers attempted to reduce capacity to slow down further rate declines.

Weakness persisted across key downstream sectors, limiting price recovery. Belgium’s construction sector showed signs of improvement, but the continued decline in building permits and slow project initiations suggest a prolonged slowdown in coatings demand. Residential construction remains weak, reducing Ethyl Acetate consumption in paints and coatings applications. Additionally, labour shortages, rising raw material costs, and limited ECB monetary support continue to constrain recovery prospects. While infrastructure and renovation projects offer some stability for industrial coatings demand, overall market conditions remain soft, keeping Ethyl Acetate prices under bearish pressure.

As per the ChemAnalyst analysis, the prices of Ethyl Acetate are expected to remain bearish in the second half of March. This development is likely to take place amidst lower prices of Feedstock Acetic Acid, and lower energy costs leading to lower production. Additionally, the Ethyl Acetate supply in the market remains adequate to meet downstream demand and is expected to remain so in the upcoming weeks. From the demand front, the construction sector activity which is a major consumer of the Ethyl Acetate downstream Paints & Coating sector is expected to recover in June. With the summer season approaching, the demand from the sector generally picks up. Furthermore, as the uncertainty due to the trade war is likely to end, the market scenario will become clear creating a positive market environment.