Ethylene glycol: summary of the first quarter

In the first quarter of this year, under the influence of geographical relations, international crude oil hit new highs repeatedly, and the cost side was strongly supported. However, the start-up of domestic ethylene glycol units remained high, the recovery of the demand side was slower than expected, and the market fluctuated widely under the background of long and short interweaving.

In January, the international crude oil continued to rise sharply, the cost drive was strengthened, and the overall ethylene glycol market price showed an upward trend. During the Spring Festival holiday, under the stimulation of supply concerns and the severe cold weather in the United States, the international crude oil continued to rise, and the ethylene glycol market followed higher. However, with the restart of early maintenance units, the overall operation of domestic units recovered to around 68%. At the same time, the downstream polyester demand recovered slowly. Under the situation of supply pressure and weak demand, Ethylene glycol market opens a downward channel. In March, against the background of the escalating conflict between Russia and Ukraine, crude oil soared continuously, the ethylene glycol oil production line suffered serious losses, and the cost side boosted the market sentiment. As of March 9, the closing price of the East China market rebounded rapidly. However, due to the outbreak of epidemic in various parts of China, Limited Logistics and transportation, poor terminal orders, polyester factory inventory accumulation and slow demand recovery, it is difficult to form a strong support, Insufficient action force in ethylene glycol market.

In the later stage, due to the low valuation of ethylene glycol and the support of high cost, the downward space of price is limited. Although some domestic units reduce the burden, the pressure on the supply side still exists and the performance on the demand side is flat. It is expected that it will be difficult for the market to recover in the later stage. We will continue to pay attention to the implementation of reducing the burden of polyester plants.