PTMEG exports to Europe roll up in Q1-Q3, 2022

According to the latest data from China customs, exports of PTMEG amounted to 62.5kt in Q1-Q3, 2022, up 114% on the year, and the export unit price was at $6.180/kg, up $1.087/kg year on year.

Exports to Turkey, UK and Brazil all spiked by more than 5,000 tons on annual basis. Exports to European nations like UK and Germany hiked, with those to UK up by 3260% year on year. UK surged to the third biggest export destination, surpassing the traditional export markets like Singapore and Thailand.

With high energy price in 2022, the price of PTMEG abroad was apparently higher than that in China. The production was obviously impacted in Q2 and Q3 in Europe amid energy crisis. However, local demand for PTMEG substantially shrank in end-Q2 and early-Q3 in China. Under such circumstance, exports of PTMEG hiked.

The export unit price in 2021 and 2022 was just the opposite, which gradually rose in 2021, slowly dived in the first half of 2022 and decreased deeper in the second half of 2022. The export price under USD dollar basis also curved a similar trend like the domestic price of PTMEG under RMB basis in 2022.

Exports of PTMEG saw a whopping increase in 2022 with increasing domestic supply and growing overseas demand. PTMEG is still expected to be a net exported product. The average export unit price was higher than the domestic price in China, while it was closely related with domestic price and showed a similar trend.