Plants Shutdown in China, Tightens the Availability of Mono-Ethylene Glycol

Shanxi, China: Massive turnaround of several units in China is leading to the tight availability of material in the domestic market, which is further supported by the volatility in Crude oil price, causing hike in price trend of Mono-Ethylene Glycol in Asian countries. Raw materials have also become costlier by 2 to 5% over the past month for synthetic textile producers, owing to the rising oil prices.

The operating rate of Mono-Ethylene Glycol units had reduced apparently in May due to seasonal changes and weakening profit margins. Mono-Ethylene Glycol profits are improving on rising oil prices in the month of June 2022. Meanwhile, some coal-based units were shut for a long period due to hiking coal prices since mid-March. Inventory levels have been contracted as operating rates from several key manufacturers have been minimal, generating limited availability of Mono-Ethylene Glycol in the domestic market. In Shanxi, a Yangmei Shouyang facility with a production capacity of 200 KTPA and a Woneng unit with a production capacity of 300 KTPA are scheduled to shut down in late June, with operations to resume in 20-30 days. The downstream Polyester and Polyethylene Terephthalate bottle market sales were weak, some polyester manufacturers closed for maintenance and the operating rate fell marginally keeping cautious market forecast. As a result, many manufacturing units were obliged to reduce their operating rates due to firm crude oil prices, lowering the material availability in the domestic market.

In Addition, Yankuang Rongxin, which has a production capacity of 400 KTPA, has been shut down since early June and will be restarted in one month. Several factories with output capacities of roughly 1570 KTPA, such as Yangmei Pingding in Shanxi and Hualu Hengsheng and Lihuayi in Shangdong, have already been shut down for an extended duration.

According to ChemAnalyst's Prediction, Mono-Ethylene Glycol prices will likely follow the Crude Oil market trend, with volatile Crude Oil prices keeping Mono-Ethylene Glycol prices on the high end. Furthermore, many unit closures are expected to raise the value, as is poor supply availability.