The hottest global ethylene glycol market is shrou

The global ethylene glycol market is shrouded in a dark cloud of overcapacity

with the continuous production of some world-class petrochemical projects in the Middle East, the global ethylene glycol market will be slightly overcapacity in the next few years. Tisonkeel, business manager of ethylene oxide and its derivatives of CMAI, pointed out that this year, the world will usher in an unprecedented surge of ethylene glycol capacity expansion, which is expected to add about 4million tons of capacity per year, resulting in the heart of the global ethylene glycol market. The main replacement imported products in 2016 are bright sewing thread, acrylic fiber products and PVA suspension dispersant, which makes the spot price soft, This is more obvious in the Asian market

according to CMAI statistics, the global demand for ethylene glycol reached 17.8 million tons in 2009 and is expected to reach about 23.6 million tons by 2014. CMAI said that the global ethylene glycol production capacity will reach about 25.4 million tons in 2010, an increase of about 15% over 2009. The new capacity mainly comes from some super petrochemical projects in the Middle East. The production capacity of these super large ethylene oxide/ethylene glycol units will account for about half of the global total production capacity, including the 1million ton/year unit of Kuwait olefin company in Shuaiba, Kuwait; The 1.6 million ton/year ethylene oxide/ethylene glycol plant of yansab company, a subsidiary of saber company, located in Yanbu, Saudi Arabia; Rabig Petrochemical Company (a joint venture between Saudi Aramco and Sumitomo chemical) has a 1.1 million ton/year unit located in rabig, Saudi Arabia; Dongfang Petrochemical Company (a joint venture of a consortium led by saber and Mitsubishi Chemical of Japan) has a 1.4 million ton/year unit located in Jubail, Saudi Arabia; Saber's 1.2 million ton/year unit in Jubail and jam Petrochemical's 1.4 million ton/year unit in Iran

with the production of these large-scale units, the global ethylene glycol Trade Center will be moved to the Middle East, because there is less demand for alcohol in the Middle East, and these units are also built for the export market

according to Coyle's analysis, these ethylene glycol projects in the Middle East are mainly invested and built by existing manufacturers. In this way, on the one hand, the ethylene glycol production capacity continues to grow, on the other hand, the number of producers will remain unchanged. A small number of producers control most of the production capacity. Even in the case of overcapacity, the pricing power is also in the hands of a small number of producers

he said that despite the global overcapacity, ethylene glycol units in North America are still worry free, because the low-cost ethane price in this region has a greater competitive advantage, and the region as a whole will become a net exporter of ethylene glycol. However, the United States will continue to maintain its status as a net importer, as more manufacturers in the country are shutting down plants and transferring production capacity to Canada, where the cost of raw materials is lower

affected by overcapacity, some small manufacturers will be forced to adjust their capacity or shut down their devices. According to CMAI, about 1million tons of ethylene oxide/ethylene glycol production capacity was shut down in the world in 2009. Pdglycols, a joint venture between quantum chemistry and DuPont of LyondellBasell, shut down two units in Texas after Hurricane Ike hit the Gulf of Mexico in September 2008, with a total capacity of about 681000 tons/year; Dow Chemical shut down a 395000 T/a unit in Wilton, UK, in the winter of 2009 due to weak demand and low profitability

cmai points out that with the excess supply of ethylene glycol, some manufacturers are changing their production strategies, such as BASF, Clariant and Huntsman, which have turned to producing more ethylene oxide derivatives to avoid problems found in hanging the mold. Dow Chemical is also turning some ethylene glycol production capacity to producing ethylene oxide derivatives, and plans to rebuild the ethylene oxide/ethylene glycol unit in Louisiana in 2011, At that time, the unit will only produce ethylene oxide. In addition, Dow Chemical's unit in the Netherlands has stopped production of ethylene glycol and increased the production capacity of ethylene oxide by 22%

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