The price of ethylene glycol first rose and then fell in February

 

Benzalkonium chloride

In February 2025, the price of ethylene glycol first rose and then fell. According to data from Shengyi Society, as of February 25th, the average price of domestic oil to ethylene glycol was 4695 yuan/ton, a decrease of 0.35% from the average price of 4711.67 yuan/ton on February 1st.

 

Recently, the accumulation of ethylene glycol at ports has been significant, suppressing spot prices. After the price drop, contract traders became active and received more orders at low basis prices. On February 25, 2024, the spot contract price of ethylene glycol at the port was lowered, and the basis spread increased. The basis price for this week’s contract increased from+24 to+26 in the morning session, and rose to+27 to+30 in the afternoon session; After the close of trading, the contract basis quotation for the following week will be+38 to+40. The contract basis quotation for March will be+55 to+58, the contract basis quotation for April will be+72 to+74, and the contract basis quotation for May will be+80 to+85.

 

In terms of external ethylene glycol, as of February 24th, the landed price of ethylene glycol in China is 549 US dollars/ton, and the landed price of ethylene glycol in Southeast Asia is 557 US dollars/ton.

 

Reasons for the recent weakening of ethylene glycol prices

 

1. Significant accumulation of port inventory

 

As of February 24, 2025, the total inventory of ethylene glycol in the main port of East China was 709700 tons, an increase of 298200 tons compared to the total inventory of 411500 tons on January 2; The total inventory on February 20th was 725600 tons, a decrease of 15900 tons.

 

In terms of outbound shipments, on February 24th, a mainstream storage area in Zhangjiagang shipped around 4550 tons of ethylene glycol; The shipment volume of ethylene glycol from the two main storage areas in Taicang is about 4200 tons.

 

The increase in port arrivals and the restart of domestic pre maintenance facilities have brought about an increase in supply, raising market expectations of oversupply, despite some domestic facilities (such as Fujian and Xinjiang) entering maintenance status.

 

2. Cost side fluctuations

 

External crude oil prices have loosened, with limited cost support. The dominant factor in market prices tends to be supply and demand considerations.

 

3. Downstream demand is mainly driven by short-term consumption of inventory goods

 

Downstream terminals are gradually resuming production, mainly consuming more inventory. The production of polyester may be affected by the operating rate of terminal demand, resulting in weak demand expectations.

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