Methyl Ethyl Ketone (MEK)

MEK solvent for coatings, adhesives and inks, with precursor import documents per destination

Methyl ethyl ketone (2-butanone, HS 2914.12) is a fast-evaporating ketone solvent used in coatings, adhesives and printing inks. It is listed in Table II of the 1988 UN Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances, alongside acetone and toluene, and appears on the International Narcotics Control Board Red List under HS 2914.12. For a buyer that means paperwork, not a ban: many importing countries require an import permit, registration or end-user declaration for Table II chemicals, and the exporting authority may send a pre-export notification. These documents are collected per destination before the cargo is fixed. MEK is UN 1193, Class 3 flammable liquid, packing group II, with a flash point of -9 °C. UN Comtrade 2024 export declarations under HS 2914.12 total about USD 660 million: China USD 234 million and 0.24 million MT, the Netherlands USD 127 million and 0.10 million MT, Japan USD 86 million and 0.09 million MT, South Africa USD 46 million, Germany USD 42 million, Belgium USD 28 million and Taiwan USD 27 million.

The buyer is a coatings, adhesive or ink producer, or a licensed distributor. Lots move in 20-24 MT ISO tanks, IBCs and drums in containers under dangerous goods documentation, and large users take chemical-tanker parcels under the IBC Code. Pricing is per MT on contract or spot basis against ICIS, Platts and Argus assessments. CBIL is a commodity brokerage company and brokers MEK from Chinese, Dutch, Japanese, South African, German, Belgian and Taiwanese producers' offtake and trader parcels, against the producer's certificate of analysis, SGS or Intertek inspection, the safety data sheet, a certificate of origin, REACH registration confirmation for EU imports and the buyer's precursor import permit or end-user declaration where the destination requires one, on FOB, CFR and CIF terms. Send the volume, pack, destination country and end use.

Excluded origins are not offered, including product re-exported, blended or re-processed through a third country. Every lot moves with a certificate of origin naming the producing plant, mine or grower country, and nothing is quoted before the seller and loading point are known.