Phenol and acetone leave the same cumene unit, but Europe’s trade in them runs in opposite directions: over the twelve months to 2026-07 the EU27 ran a phenol deficit of 46.7 thousand tonnes against an acetone surplus of 49.7 thousand tonnes. In the United States the acetone balance moved hard the other way — first-half 2026 imports were 31% of their year-earlier level — while Commerce and the US International Trade Commission extended anti-dumping orders on five acetone origins in February 2026.
Data updated: 2026-09-27
Latest 12 months
Eurostat Comext covers EU27 extra-EU trade to 2026-07; the UN Comtrade monthly preview covers India and the United States to 2026-06.
European Union, extra-EU flows, 2025-08 to 2026-07. The EU27 imported EUR 79.5 million of phenol (HS 290711) and 81.2 thousand tonnes, and exported EUR 32.4 million and 34.5 thousand tonnes. For acetone (HS 291411) the same window shows imports of EUR 62.3 million and 75.8 thousand tonnes against exports of EUR 100.1 million and 125.5 thousand tonnes. In the final month, phenol unit values were 1,277 EUR/t on imports and 1,244 EUR/t on exports; acetone imports were 975 EUR/t and exports 865 EUR/t.
Monthly unit values are volatile and should not be read as a benchmark price: across the twelve months, phenol import unit values ranged from 711 to 1,788 EUR/t and acetone import unit values from 515 to 1,168 EUR/t. A single month’s implied value is a customs artefact as much as a market price.
Comparing January–July 2026 with the same seven months of 2025 — the only period for which both years are complete here — EU27 phenol imports moved from EUR 52.8 million to EUR 62.4 million (+18.1%), with import tonnage +28.4%, while phenol exports moved from EUR 15.6 million to EUR 19.7 million (+26.2%). Acetone imports moved from EUR 38.1 million to EUR 52.4 million (+37.5%) and exports from EUR 48.2 million to EUR 50.3 million (+4.5%).
India and the United States, to 2026-06. In the first six months of 2026 India imported USD 120.1 million of phenol against exports of USD 15.1 million, and imported USD 53.3 million of acetone against exports of USD 3.3 million. The United States exported USD 87.6 million of phenol against imports of just USD 0.7 million, exported USD 58.2 million of acetone and imported USD 11.6 million.
Trend base: annual trade, 2020–2025
| Year | Phenol (HS 290711) | Acetone (HS 291411) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Exports (USD m) | Imports (USD m) | Export unit value (USD/t) | Exports (USD m) | Imports (USD m) | Export unit value (USD/t) | |
| 2020 | 1,232.4 | 1,711.4 | 719 | 1,130.6 | 1,331.6 | 713 |
| 2021 | 2,014.3 | 2,942.8 | 1,127 | 1,661.8 | 1,991.4 | 934 |
| 2022 | 2,045.5 | 2,811.6 | 1,377 | 1,244.7 | 1,478.3 | 776 |
| 2023 | 1,203.9 | 1,813.5 | 1,105 | 1,106.8 | 1,130.4 | 895 |
| 2024 | 1,217.6 | 2,017.0 | 1,032 | 1,231.1 | 1,314.0 | 910 |
| 2025 | 938.0 | 1,510.1 | 907 | 868.7 | 1,005.4 | 753 |
Like-for-like 2025 vs 2024, restricted to the economies that filed both years: phenol imports n=23 (-21.6%), acetone imports n=25 (-23.2%). 2025 is first-reported and subject to revision.
Phenol exports across the panel moved from USD 1,232.4 million in 2020 to USD 938.0 million in 2025 and imports from USD 1,711.4 million to USD 1,510.1 million; acetone exports went from USD 1,130.6 million to USD 868.7 million and imports from USD 1,331.6 million to USD 1,005.4 million.
The 2025 column needs a health warning. Only 20 economies filed phenol export records and 24 filed phenol imports, against the full 30-economy panel used in earlier years, so comparing raw totals across a shifting panel manufactures false turning points. Restricted to the 23 economies that filed phenol imports in both 2024 and 2025, the change was -21.6%; on the same basis phenol exports changed -18.4% and acetone imports -23.2%.
Unit values here are computed only on records that report net weight, and in the 2025 export column only 9 of those 20 economies did. Where that sub-set is thin the figure is a directional signal, not a price. On that qualified basis phenol export unit value reads 907 USD/t in 2025 against 719 USD/t in 2020, and acetone 753 USD/t against 713 USD/t.
Where Europe’s phenol and acetone cross the border
| Month | Extra-EU imports (EUR m) | Import volume (kt) | Import unit value (EUR/t) | Extra-EU exports (EUR m) | Export volume (kt) | Export unit value (EUR/t) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-08 | 4.1 | 3.6 | 1,129 | 3.5 | 4.3 | 823 |
| 2025-09 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 1,788 | 1.3 | 1.3 | 989 |
| 2025-10 | 0.9 | 1.2 | 770 | 2.6 | 3.1 | 843 |
| 2025-11 | 6.3 | 7.1 | 895 | 2.8 | 3.6 | 777 |
| 2025-12 | 5.5 | 5.5 | 1,003 | 2.5 | 3.3 | 759 |
| 2026-01 | 4.8 | 6.7 | 711 | 1.3 | 1.5 | 875 |
| 2026-02 | 6.4 | 7.5 | 849 | 2.8 | 3.1 | 892 |
| 2026-03 | 5.9 | 6.7 | 887 | 1.7 | 1.8 | 949 |
| 2026-04 | 19.2 | 20.9 | 917 | 6.7 | 6.1 | 1,099 |
| 2026-05 | 9.6 | 8.2 | 1,168 | 2.5 | 2.7 | 914 |
| 2026-06 | 8.2 | 7.1 | 1,158 | 1.9 | 1.4 | 1,310 |
| 2026-07 | 8.3 | 6.5 | 1,277 | 2.9 | 2.3 | 1,244 |
| 12-month total | 79.5 | 81.2 | – | 32.4 | 34.5 | – |
| Month | Extra-EU imports (EUR m) | Import volume (kt) | Import unit value (EUR/t) | Extra-EU exports (EUR m) | Export volume (kt) | Export unit value (EUR/t) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-08 | 1.7 | 2.4 | 701 | 9.5 | 12.5 | 764 |
| 2025-09 | 3.9 | 5.5 | 696 | 11.6 | 16.3 | 716 |
| 2025-10 | 1.7 | 2.6 | 680 | 9.3 | 13.6 | 681 |
| 2025-11 | 0.8 | 1.2 | 675 | 9.3 | 11.8 | 789 |
| 2025-12 | 1.8 | 3.2 | 567 | 10.0 | 15.5 | 645 |
| 2026-01 | 2.4 | 4.6 | 515 | 5.1 | 6.9 | 743 |
| 2026-02 | 2.8 | 4.8 | 568 | 6.3 | 8.6 | 736 |
| 2026-03 | 3.0 | 4.2 | 714 | 5.2 | 6.2 | 839 |
| 2026-04 | 10.2 | 13.2 | 777 | 6.7 | 5.9 | 1,124 |
| 2026-05 | 11.1 | 12.8 | 868 | 7.4 | 6.3 | 1,176 |
| 2026-06 | 12.8 | 10.9 | 1,168 | 8.4 | 9.0 | 936 |
| 2026-07 | 10.1 | 10.4 | 975 | 11.2 | 12.9 | 865 |
| 12-month total | 62.3 | 75.8 | – | 100.1 | 125.5 | – |
In the twelve-month totals the structural difference is clear: Europe buys phenol and sells acetone. That follows from how the two molecules are made. Cumene, itself produced from benzene and propylene, is oxidised to cumene hydroperoxide and then cleaved into phenol and acetone together. No operator can raise phenol output without producing acetone, so a region that has stopped expanding phenol capacity still has acetone to place. Our phenol and acetone reference pages carry the longer price and capacity histories behind these flows.
The monthly detail does not deliver that structure every month. EU27 phenol imports exceeded exports in 10 of the twelve months; the two exceptions, September and October 2025, came from unusually thin imports — EUR 0.2 million and EUR 0.9 million against exports of EUR 1.3 million and EUR 2.6 million — which is how easily a single monthly flow flips the sign. More importantly, acetone exports exceeded imports in only 9 of the twelve months, and the three that did not are consecutive and recent: April, May and June 2026. Acetone imports reached EUR 12.8 million in June against exports of EUR 8.4 million, after EUR 11.1 million in May. July 2026 swung back to a small surplus, with exports of EUR 11.2 million against imports of EUR 10.1 million, so the pattern is a narrowing rather than a clean reversal.
India and the United States: the monthly series that still reports
| Month | Phenol (HS 290711), USD million | Acetone (HS 291411), USD million | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| India exports | India imports | US exports | US imports | India exports | India imports | US exports | US imports | |
| 2025-01 | 2.8 | 27.9 | 14.0 | 0.2 | 1.4 | 5.2 | 4.2 | 11.3 |
| 2025-02 | 4.0 | 19.8 | 13.1 | 0.1 | 0.9 | 2.6 | 7.2 | 0.7 |
| 2025-03 | 2.9 | 14.6 | 12.9 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 5.2 | 6.6 | 4.3 |
| 2025-04 | 3.9 | 12.9 | 9.9 | 0.1 | 1.2 | 5.5 | 6.4 | 8.9 |
| 2025-05 | 2.8 | 11.7 | 8.4 | 0.2 | 0.8 | 6.3 | 3.2 | 8.4 |
| 2025-06 | 3.6 | 17.3 | 10.9 | 0.5 | 0.9 | 13.2 | 6.3 | 3.7 |
| 2025-07 | 3.5 | 22.3 | 8.6 | 0.2 | 1.1 | 13.7 | 2.9 | 1.8 |
| 2025-08 | 3.0 | 38.6 | 13.4 | 0.1 | 1.4 | 12.9 | 1.8 | 1.8 |
| 2025-09 | 3.5 | 21.6 | 21.2 | 0.2 | 0.9 | 7.0 | 2.9 | 2.4 |
| 2025-10 | 3.7 | 25.2 | 6.9 | 0.0 | 1.4 | 5.0 | 6.0 | 4.4 |
| 2025-11 | 4.2 | 15.1 | 6.8 | 0.2 | 0.8 | 4.7 | 4.3 | 3.1 |
| 2025-12 | 2.0 | 20.3 | 5.9 | 0.0 | 1.1 | 4.8 | 3.0 | 7.4 |
| 2026-01 | 3.3 | 29.8 | 6.0 | 0.1 | 0.8 | 6.8 | 1.6 | 4.2 |
| 2026-02 | 2.5 | 17.6 | 9.5 | 0.1 | 1.0 | 2.6 | 5.7 | 2.7 |
| 2026-03 | 2.5 | 7.5 | 21.7 | 0.2 | 0.6 | 4.8 | 7.1 | 0.9 |
| 2026-04 | 2.3 | 13.3 | 13.9 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 12.4 | 12.8 | 2.0 |
| 2026-05 | 2.5 | 15.3 | 9.6 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 19.8 | 11.5 | 0.4 |
| 2026-06 | 2.0 | 36.7 | 26.8 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 6.9 | 19.3 | 1.4 |
Source: UN Comtrade monthly preview, reporters India (699) and United States (842), world-level totals. Unit values are deliberately not shown for this pair of reporters: India files no world-level net weight in several months, and US phenol imports run at a few tonnes a month, so an implied USD/t would be arithmetically correct and analytically meaningless. The series ends at 2026-06, the latest month these reporters have filed.
Two readings of the US acetone line are available and only one is safe. The descriptive reading: first-half 2026 acetone imports of USD 11.6 million against USD 37.3 million a year earlier (-69.0%, or 31% of the year-earlier level) while exports rose from USD 33.9 million to USD 58.2 million (+71.6%). The unsafe reading is causal. The US orders on acetone from Belgium, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea and Spain have been in force since 2019–2020, and the February 2026 action extended existing orders rather than imposing new ones, so it cannot by itself explain a 2025-to-2026 swing. Relative regional prices, freight economics and the availability of non-covered origins are all candidates, and this dataset cannot separate them.
Analysis: the regulatory floor under US acetone
Analysis — sourced to government publications, not to price assessments.
On 6 February 2026 the US International Trade Administration published the continuation of the anti-dumping orders on acetone from Belgium, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea and Spain, applicable from 2 February 2026, after Commerce and the US International Trade Commission both determined that revocation would likely lead to continuation or recurrence of dumping and of material injury. The original orders date to 20 December 2019 (Singapore, Spain) and 31 March 2020 (Belgium, South Africa, Korea), making this the first full five-year renewal of the set. Scope covers all grades of liquid or aqueous acetone, including acetone combined or commingled with other products, under HTSUS 2914.11.1000 and 2914.11.5000 (CAS 67-64-1). US Customs continues to collect cash deposits at the rates in effect at entry, which leaves non-covered origins and domestic production pricing into the gap.
AdvanSix, the listed US producer running cumene-to-phenol-to-caprolactam at Frankford and Hopewell, sets out the wider picture in its annual report: “Industry operating rates for phenol and acetone production have fallen in recent years and are estimated to be approximately 70% globally and low to mid 60% in the U.S.” The same filing puts global acetone demand at approximately 7.6 million metric tons, acetone sales at about USD 222 million in 2025 (15% of total sales), and acetone and phenol at approximately 59% and 8% of its chemical intermediates sales.
Analysis: Europe is closing plants, not fixing the surplus
Analysis / outlook — each statement is attributable to the source named.
In June 2026 INEOS Phenol told staff at its Doel site in Antwerp that the planned restart of the phenol plant would be delayed beyond the previously announced late-2027 window, stating that “the economic conditions required for a restart have not yet been sustainably reached”. It cited volatility on both supply and demand and singled out two pressures: demand destruction in the European automotive industry, which it says has been hit by significantly increased imports of Chinese cars, and European energy costs plus carbon taxation that competitors do not face. INEOS says its other site at Gladbeck in Germany will therefore continue production beyond 2027, while Antwerp keeps providing logistics services to local customers.
That decision sits inside a longer rationalisation. Mitsui Chemicals stated in April 2024 that it would close the phenol plant at its Ichihara Works by fiscal 2026, one entry in Reuters’ running record of petrochemical closures across Europe and Asia. The pattern is not confined to phenol: in September 2026 INEOS idled all three of its world-scale acetyls units at Hull, describing European gas prices as twelve times US levels and eight times those of coal-based Chinese production. These are statements about energy and carbon cost differentials, not about phenol demand as such.
The outlook is uncomfortable for European buyers. Every tonne of phenol lost to a European closure must be met by imports or by idled capacity restarting elsewhere, and the tables above show the import channel absorbing part of it. With global operating rates near 70% on the producer’s own estimate, spare capacity exists somewhere in the system; whether it prices into Europe at a premium or a discount is what the monthly unit-value columns let a reader test month by month instead of assume.
How to use these numbers
- Do not mix the two channels. Comtrade aggregates annual customs values across reporting economies; Comext reports one customs union’s extra-bloc trade monthly. Their unit values are in different currencies (USD/t and EUR/t).
- Treat thin net-weight coverage as missing data. Where fewer than twelve records carry net weight in a year, a USD/t figure is not a benchmark and must not anchor an index.
- Use like-for-like panels for direction. Totals in a first-reported year understate the market; only the fixed-economy comparison supports year-on-year statements.
- Model capacity events as switches. INEOS Doel, Gladbeck and the US acetone orders are dated, binary facts, not trend lines.
Buyers, traders and strategy teams that need these series at a finer grain — monthly unit values by origin and destination, capacity by site, and the company-level picture behind them — can request a sample report or scope a custom study.
Data sources
- UN Comtrade annual HS preview, 30-economy panel, 2020–2025 — annual preview API
- UN Comtrade monthly HS preview, India (699) and United States (842), to 2026-06 — monthly preview API
- Eurostat Comext DS-045409, EU27 extra-EU monthly from 2025-01 — Comext API
- US International Trade Administration, “Acetone From Belgium, Singapore, the Republic of South Africa, the Republic of South Korea, and Spain: Continuation of Antidumping Duty Orders”, 91 FR 5432, 6 February 2026 — Federal Register
- ITA, “Acetone From the Republic of Korea: Final Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review; 2024-2025”, 9 June 2026 — Federal Register
- INEOS, “Restart of INEOS Phenol plant in Antwerp in 2027 postponed”, 17 June 2026 — ineos.com
- INEOS, “INEOS Idles Europe’s last world-scale Acetyls plant as Energy prices hit 12 times US level”, 22 September 2026 — ineos.com
- AdvanSix Inc., Form 10-K for the year ended 31 December 2025, filed 20 February 2026 — SEC EDGAR
- AdvanSix Inc., Form 10-Q for the period ended 30 June 2026, filed 7 August 2026 — SEC EDGAR
- Reuters, “Factbox-Global petrochemical firms shape up in oversupply crisis”, 8 August 2024 — Reuters
Method note: every figure above is computed from the cached API responses listed here. Unit values are calculated only where customs value and net weight are both reported; otherwise they are shown as n/r. No price assessment from a paid subscription service is used or quoted.