Due to the recent drag on demand, the ethylene glycol market has been difficult to get rid of the low level. Although the start-up load of domestic devices is low and there are many shutdowns, the market lacks positive support due to low demand and maintains a low and volatile trend.
Recent changes in ethylene glycol equipment
Against the background of profit losses, maintenance of domestic ethylene glycol units has gradually increased, and the restart of some units has been postponed. The overall operation is currently around 50%, and supply has shrunk significantly. The output in July was 853,100 tons, a decrease of 15.73% from May. At the same time, it was affected by Affected by the shutdown of the device, supply from Taiwan, Japan and South Korea also declined. In the first half of this year, imports from Taiwan decreased by 22.65% compared with the same period last year, and imports from Japan decreased by 51.58% compared with the same period last year. Although production and import volumes tightened significantly in the second quarter, the domestic production capacity base is large and the market spot supply is still relatively abundant. At the same time, weak demand in the off-season has also weakened the positive support brought by reduced supply.
On the demand side, the current macro-economy is weak, market sentiment is relatively pessimistic, factory finished product inventories are high and new orders are lacking. Coupled with the continuation of high temperatures in the summer and the impact of local epidemics, polyester demand has not recovered well. Although the polyester load has rebounded slowly recently, at present Consumption is sluggish and demand is slowly recovering, dragging down market sentiment.
Taken together, the ethylene glycol process industries have suffered serious profit losses, and the domestic supply has shrunk significantly, which has formed a bottom support for the market. With the arrival of the “Golden September and Silver Ten” peak seasons, demand will gradually pick up. In the long term, the market has room for profit recovery, but In the short term, under the pressure of high inventory and weak demand, the market may continue to maintain low and volatile operations.
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