Event: The Ministry of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China issued Announcement No. 3 of this year on January 27, 2018, deciding to impose anti-dumping measures on imported ethylene glycol originating in the United States and the European Union. Final review investigation. The current anti-dumping tax rates applicable in the United States are 10.6-14.1%, and the anti-dumping tax rates applicable in the EU are 9.3-18.8%.
This means that China may continue to impose anti-dumping duties on this product from the United States and Europe. Although China has imposed anti-dumping duties on European and American ethylene glycol products in recent years, domestic dependence on ethylene glycol imports is still very high. It is reported that the total annual import volume of ethylene glycol in 2017 was around 8.75 million tons, compared with 2016 There was a significant increase of 1.18 million tons in 2018, an increase of 15.6%.
Although domestic coal-based ethylene glycol has sprung up like mushrooms in the past two years and its production capacity has increased significantly, downstream polyester production capacity is also expanding simultaneously, which makes ethylene glycol in 2017 Alcohol import dependence is still around 60%.
Ethylene glycol imports increased significantly in 2017, so what changes have occurred in the import market compared with previous years?
The viscosity of the import market does not decrease, and the import volume throughout the year Steady growth
From the figure below, we can easily see that compared with 2016, the pattern of major importers of ethylene glycol has not changed significantly. Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, and Canada remained the main importing countries and regions of ethylene glycol in 2017. Because Canada is not on the list of countries subject to ethylene glycol anti-dumping, domestic imports to Canada are still quite objective, while imports to the United States and EU countries are very limited.
From the perspective of import volume, the total import volume of ethylene glycol in 2017 was 8.75 million tons, including 3.8789 million tons from Saudi Arabia, 1.3639 million tons from Taiwan, and 937.5 million tons from Canada. In 2016, import volume increased by 12%, 8.7%, and 3.54% respectively.
Domestic demand is strong, and ethylene glycol will still rely on imports in the short term
In 2017, the new production capacity of polyester bottle flakes, polyester filament, and polyester staple fiber was 2.92 million tons, and the production equipment was resumed at 880,000 tons. In 2018, more polyester production capacity will be added. The expansion of polyester filament production is mainly concentrated in the two leading companies, Tongkun and Xinfengming. New production capacity of bottle flakes is blooming everywhere, and short fiber is also experiencing a slight expansion after many years of stable production capacity. production, the ban on waste polyester recycling will also benefit the demand for virgin polyester.
Although the new domestic ethylene glycol production capacity has been relatively intensive in recent years, compared with the polyester production capacity, the domestic supply of ethylene glycol is still unable to meet the basic demand for polyester. need. The prosperity of the polyester industry rebounded in 2017, and the load of the polyester industry was at a high level during the year. Supported by effective rigid demand, although the import volume of ethylene glycol increased significantly, the inventory level in the port area still dropped significantly compared with the previous year. Based on optimistic downstream demand and stable ethylene glycol supply, the ethylene glycol industry is in a good situation.
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