CAS 78-93-3 · IECSC · People's Republic of China

Methyl ethyl ketone (MEK, butan-2-one) under IECSC

C4H8O · 丁酮 / 甲乙酮

Status: Listed. MEK is on the IECSC public portion as a foundational organic solvent. New-substance notification under MEE Decree No. 7 (2010) is NOT required. **MEK IS on China's Catalog of Hazardous Chemicals** (Flam. Liq. 2 classification only). Hazardous Chemicals Operation Permit IS required for production / storage / distribution. NOT on Highly Toxic Chemicals Catalog. **MEK IS on China's Easily-Made Drugs Precursor Chemicals Catalog Category 3** (alongside acetone batch 15 plus toluene batch 20; methamphetamine precursor concern; verify the current Easily-Made Drugs Precursor Chemicals Catalog and assigned category against the Ministry of Public Security portal before relying). 13% China VAT export rebate for MEK (HS 291412) per current organic chemicals chapter rebate schedule (verify before invoicing against the most recent MOF / GACC rebate notice). China dominates global MEK capacity (verify percent-of-global share against ICIS or S&P Commodity Insights before quoting; prior industry reports cited ~50 percent at ~1.5 to 2 Mt/yr) led by Sinopec (Yanshan plus Jinling), CNPC, Tongling Henghao, Liaoning Bohai Petrochemical.

MEK is comfortably IECSC-listed but IS on **BOTH the Catalog of Hazardous Chemicals AND the Easily-Made Drugs Precursor Chemicals Catalog Category 3** (alongside acetone batch 15 plus toluene batch 20). NOT on Highly Toxic Chemicals Catalog. 13% China VAT export rebate. China dominates global MEK capacity led by Sinopec (Yanshan plus Jinling), CNPC, Tongling Henghao, Liaoning Bohai Petrochemical. Production: 2-butanol dehydrogenation (~70 percent) plus n-butane / butene oxidation (~30 percent).

Listing and threshold

Substance Methyl ethyl ketone (MEK, butan-2-one) (CAS 78-93-3), C4H8O
Regime China Inventory of Existing Chemical Substances (IECSC), administered by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE)
Jurisdiction People's Republic of China
Status Listed
Tonnage threshold No new-substance threshold applies. Hazardous Chemicals Operation Permit required regardless of volume

Classifications under this regime

  • Listed in China's Catalog of Hazardous Chemicals
  • NOT on China's Highly Toxic Chemicals Catalog
  • **Listed in China's Easily-Made Drugs Precursor Chemicals Catalog Category 3** (alongside acetone batch 15 plus toluene batch 20)
  • GB/T 6027-2014 specification applies for industrial-grade MEK (Chinese national standard; verify against the current version at https://www.codeofchina.com/ before relying)
  • GB/T 17519-2013 Chinese-language SDS standard applies (effective 31 January 2014, references UN GHS 4th revised edition; verify against the current version at https://www.codeofchina.com/standard/GBT17519-2013.html)
  • GACC export classification: HS 291412 (methyl ethyl ketone)
  • GB 6944-2012 dangerous-goods transport classification: Class 3 (flammable liquid), UN 1193

Restrictions and conditions of use

  • **Hazardous Chemicals Operation Permit IS required**
  • **Easily-Made Drugs Cat 3 obligations**: Public Security Bureau supervision plus record-keeping (similar to acetone batch 15 pattern)
  • Hazardous Chemicals Road Transport Permit required
  • 13% China VAT export rebate; verify before invoicing
  • GB/T 17519 Chinese-language SDS required for domestic distribution

Importer obligations

For Chinese-origin MEK exported abroad, no IECSC obligation falls on the foreign importer. **Easily-Made Drugs Cat 3 plus Hazardous Chemicals Operation Permit dual-permit chain** is the export-side practitioner overhead. Major Chinese producers: Sinopec (Yanshan plus Jinling), CNPC, Tongling Henghao, Liaoning Bohai Petrochemical (verify each producer-site pair against the producer's public website before relying on a specific plant).

Required documents

  • GACC export declaration with HS code 291412
  • Industrial-grade certificate per GB/T 6027-2014
  • GHS-compliant SDS in Simplified Chinese per GB/T 17519-2013
  • Hazardous Chemicals Operation Permit chain documentation
  • **Easily-Made Drugs Cat 3 Public Security Bureau supervision documentation**
  • GB 6944-2012 Class 3 dangerous-goods transport documentation

Common compliance traps

The pitfalls that have bitten importers on this lane in the past. None of these is theoretical.

  • **Easily-Made Drugs Cat 3 plus Hazardous Chemicals Operation Permit dual-permit chain**
  • 13% China VAT rebate is structural margin support
  • NOT on Highly Toxic Chemicals Catalog (lighter than phenol batch 13 plus formaldehyde batch 18 plus benzene batch 22)
  • Major Chinese producers: Sinopec (Yanshan plus Jinling), CNPC, Tongling Henghao, Liaoning Bohai Petrochemical
  • Production routes: 2-butanol dehydrogenation (~70 percent globally), n-butane / butene oxidation (~30 percent)
  • End-use mix: solvent (~70 percent), printing plus magnetic-tape coating (~10 percent), lube-oil dewaxing MEK-process (~10 percent), pharmaceutical extraction (~10 percent)

Where to read next

For substance-level identifiers (formula, molecular weight, SMILES, InChIKey), GHS hazard profile, IMDG transport class, and full sourcing reference for methyl ethyl ketone (mek, butan-2-one), see the CAS 78-93-3 sourcing reference.

For grade-by-grade buying notes, freight maths, supplier-tier pricing, and a worked landed-cost example, the methyl ethyl ketone (mek, butan-2-one) cornerstone hub covers the full sourcing chain.

For the structure and history of IECSC, see the IECSC glossary entry.

Need cross-jurisdiction compliance support on this substance? Run it through the REACH / TSCA / IECSC / AICIS / K-REACH checker, or send us the substance and the destination and we will quote FOB China and CIF / DDP landed including the regulatory work on the destination side.

Read next

Cross-jurisdiction profile and sourcing references

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