Introduction: In the first half of the year, the domestic ethylene glycol market surged to a high of 6,505 yuan/ton after the Spring Festival, began to fall back to a low of 4,716 yuan/ton, and then began to rise slowly. In terms of import and export, due to the increase in domestic equipment and the impact of increased foreign demand, the quantity of domestically imported ethylene glycol in the first half of the year decreased by 1.2781 million tons compared with last year, and the export volume increased by 98,300 tons compared with the range.
Figure 1 Comparison of domestic imported ethylene glycol in 2020-2021
Source: Longzhong Information
In terms of imports, my country imported a total of 4.3377 million tons of ethylene glycol in the first half of the year, a decrease of 22.756% compared with the same period last year. From an analysis point of view, the reduction in imports was mainly due to the poor operational stability of overseas equipment in the first half of the year (mainly in the United States), insufficient raw materials and low load (Middle East), and the reduction in other major source countries to varying degrees (public health incidents).
Figure 2 Comparison of domestic exports of ethylene glycol in 2020-2021
Source: Longzhong Information
In terms of exports, my country exported a total of 100,000 tons of ethylene glycol in the first half of the year, an increase of 98,300 tons, or +5914.74%, compared with the same period last year. The increase in export volume started in September last year, mainly exported to Mexico, the Russian Federation, South Korea, Belgium, Brazil, the Netherlands and other places. It changes every month and there are no rules to follow.
Figure 3 Domestic ethylene glycol imports by country of origin in the first half of the year
Source: Longzhong Information
In the first half of the year, the top five countries/regions in total domestic ethylene glycol imports in the first half of the year were still Saudi Arabia, Canada, Taiwan, Singapore, and Iran. . In total, it accounts for more than 95% of the total domestic ethylene glycol imports. The United Arab Emirates, which originally ranked fifth in imports, has only imported once in April 2020 starting from October 2019, and the import volume during the rest of the time was zero, mainly due to the cancellation of transshipment trade.
Figure 4 Domestic ethylene glycol imports in the first half of the year by place of delivery and receipt
Source: Longzhong Information
In the first half of the year, the top three cities in domestic imports of ethylene glycol changed slightly from previous years. In previous years, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Fujian Mainly, this year Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Beijing are the main importers. In absolute terms, the top three importers account for more than 75% of the total domestic imports.
Taking a comprehensive view: the new domestic ethylene glycol production capacity is gradually released, coupled with the impact of public health events, although the supply of imported goods will gradually increase in the later period, it is expected that the increase in the supply of imported goods will be limited in the next year. There has been a decrease in previous years. It is expected that the overall import volume will be reduced by about 1.5 million tons compared with 2020, which is not much compared with the output of new domestic enterprises. </p
