Ethylene Glycol: Trading Dynamics of Asian Ethylene Glycol Market

Ethylene Glycol: Trading Dynamics of Asian Ethylene Glycol Market

Affected by the increase in demand, Asian ethylene glycol import prices rose on January 3.

CE March Brent crude futures rose $3.02 to settle at $86.19 a barrel at 4:30 pm Singapore time (0830 GMT) on Jan. 3.

Freight rates from the US to eastern China are at $114/mt, which means the arbitrage trade from the US to China is over, traders said.

Equate has nominated a monoethylene glycol contract price of $511/t CFR India for January. Its monoethylene glycol CP price in the first half of January was US$530/ton CFR India.

Reliance plans to change Indian MEG's CFR China-linked contract domestic price to nominated CP. Equatorial firm MEGlobal has also turned to directly nominated Indian buyer MEG CP.

As capacity additions have significantly outpaced demand in recent years, MEG margins are expected to remain subdued in 2023, resulting in operating rates below 60% in China.