Ethylene Glycol Price Trend and Forecast 2026-2027

Market Overview

The Ethylene Glycol market did not have an easy first half of the year 2026. It was China that felt the pressure first, since the country drives more of the world's consumption than any other market: the prices there climbed from near 566 USD/MT in Q1 to about 612 USD/MT in Q2, a rise of just above 8.1% that looks modest only once one considers that Q1 itself was already running hot. The global average told much the same story, moving from roughly 528 USD/MT to close to 585 USD/MT over the same stretch, up around 10.8%. What was mostly behind this was the Gulf: cargo delays and rising insurance costs on Middle East-origin material worked through the polyester chain faster than buyers had planned for. Some of that premium should come off in H2 2026, with a global average near 545-595 USD/MT a reasonable expectation. The underlying chemistry is not especially complicated. Ethylene glycol is produced mainly by hydrating ethylene oxide, though coal-based routes in China and a smaller bio-based segment have added variety to supply lately. Its main role is as the diol in polyethylene terephthalate, so polyester fibre and PET bottle resin absorb most of the output, with antifreeze and solvent uses filling out the rest. Ethylene and naphtha costs usually set the floor here; this year, the Gulf shipping situation took on that role instead.

Ethylene Glycol Price Forecast for 2026

One should not expect Ethylene Glycol to snap straight back to pre-H1 levels, though some easing is reasonable. The Middle East shipping lanes are reopening, and the freight and insurance premiums on Gulf-origin cargoes are starting to come down, which would normally send prices lower fast. What is likely to slow that is the polyester and PET demand across Asia, firm enough to hold a floor under the market even as the feedstock story fades. A measured retreat looks more likely than a sharp one, since the H1 disruption cut deep enough into supply that inventories will need real time to rebuild.

The Gulf shipping situation is the factor most worth watching here. Another flare-up there, or a fresh spike in the crude and naphtha markets, would put the cost pressure of Q2 back on the table. The larger risk probably runs the other way, though: should the Middle East cargo flows normalise faster than expected, combined with softer polyester restocking, prices could drag below the low end of the forecast.

For the Quarter Ending June 2026

Ethylene Glycol Prices Q2 2026:

• China: USD 612/MT
• United States: USD 498/MT
• India: USD 705/MT
• Saudi Arabia: USD 518/MT
• South Korea: USD 575/MT

Ethylene Glycol Prices in China

China set the pace again this quarter, and it was not a close call. The prices averaged close to 612 USD/MT in Q2 2026, up just above 8.1% from near 566 USD/MT in Q1, as the buyers scrambled for a shrinking pool of non-Gulf cargoes while the domestic naphtha costs climbed right alongside them.

Why did the price of Ethylene Glycol change in Q2 2026 in China?

This really came down to availability rather than feedstock cost. With a large share of Middle East MEG effectively stuck, Chinese importers had to bid up for whatever alternative supply they could find, and that competition moved the market more than the naphtha increase on its own.

Ethylene Glycol Prices in the United States

Two factors pushed US prices the same way in Q2: ethylene costs firmed at home, and Asian buyers, locked out of usual Gulf suppliers, began looking toward Gulf Coast producers. That combination took prices to roughly 498 USD/MT, up about 10.2% from near 452 USD/MT in Q1.

Why did the price of Ethylene Glycol change in Q2 2026 in the United States?

Export demand did most of the work here. Once Middle East supply became unreliable, Asian buyers turned to the United States almost by default.

Ethylene Glycol Prices in India

India posted the sharpest move of the five regions in this report. Prices jumped just above 14.6% to close to 705 USD/MT in Q2 2026 from near 615 USD/MT in Q1, as heavy reliance on Middle East imports turned a manageable hiccup elsewhere into a scramble.

Why did the price of Ethylene Glycol change in Q2 2026 in India?

The exposure India carries here is structural rather than incidental. A large share of its MEG arrives through Gulf supply chains, and once those slowed, buyers had few options beyond bidding for Chinese and Korean cargoes at whatever price cleared.

Ethylene Glycol Prices in Saudi Arabia

It is usually Saudi Arabia that is the source of pressure elsewhere in this market, not the one feeling the squeeze itself. That situation flipped in Q2: the prices climbed about 10.2% to near 518 USD/MT from roughly 470 USD/MT in Q1.

Why did the price of Ethylene Glycol change in Q2 2026 in Saudi Arabia?

Freight and insurance costs on Gulf loadings rose enough to show up directly in export netback pricing. Loading schedules were also trimmed, so less volume made it to the water.

Ethylene Glycol Prices in South Korea

South Korea did not see anything close to the scale of India's jump. Still, the market moved: prices rose close to 8.9% to about 575 USD/MT in Q2 2026 from near 528 USD/MT in Q1, as integrated producers passed higher naphtha costs through.

Why did the price of Ethylene Glycol change in Q2 2026 in South Korea?

Nothing especially unusual happened here beyond the two forces already at work across the region: firmer naphtha raised production costs, and buyers wary of further disruption shifted purchasing toward South Korean suppliers.

For the Quarter Ending March 2026

Ethylene Glycol Prices Q1 2026:

• China: USD 566/MT
• United States: USD 452/MT
• India: USD 615/MT
• Saudi Arabia: USD 470/MT
• South Korea: USD 528/MT

Ethylene Glycol Prices in China

The prices had already begun climbing before the worst of the disruption hit. By the close of Q1 2026, China was averaging close to 566 USD/MT, a rise of about 5.8% from near 535 USD/MT back in Q4 2025.

Why did the price of Ethylene Glycol change in Q1 2026 in China?

This was mostly a feedstock story rather than a supply one. Rising Gulf tensions from January onward lifted crude and naphtha benchmarks broadly, and coal-based producers in China held their offers firm instead of discounting into a rising market.

Ethylene Glycol Prices in the United States

Close to 452 USD/MT is where the US prices landed in Q1 2026, a bounce of about 6.4% off the Q4 low of near 425 USD/MT, helped along by firmer ethylene costs and steady demand from the antifreeze and polyester buyers.

Why did the price of Ethylene Glycol change in Q1 2026 in the United States?

There was no single dramatic trigger here, more a normalisation following a soft fourth quarter. Ethylene feedstock costs firmed enough to lift the floor.

Ethylene Glycol Prices in India

India did not wait around. The buyers pushed prices up close to 7.5% in Q1 2026, to about 615 USD/MT from near 572 USD/MT in Q4 2025, well before the worst of the Gulf disruption had even arrived.

Why did the price of Ethylene Glycol change in Q1 2026 in India?

This can be described as defensive buying. Early signals out of the Middle East convinced Indian importers that waiting was not worth the risk, so a good many locked in supply ahead of schedule.

Ethylene Glycol Prices in Saudi Arabia

Q1 2026 was a fairly quiet quarter for Saudi Arabia, all things considered. The prices ended near 470 USD/MT, up a modest 4.9% from about 448 USD/MT in Q4 2025, though as we now know, that calm did not last long.

Why did the price of Ethylene Glycol change in Q1 2026 in Saudi Arabia?

Early increases in Gulf freight costs did most of the work, nudging netback values higher even before the disruption turned acute.

Ethylene Glycol Prices in South Korea

It was the naphtha costs firming across the aromatics and olefins complex that pushed the South Korean prices up close to 6.0% in Q1 2026, landing at about 528 USD/MT versus near 498 USD/MT the quarter before.

Why did the price of Ethylene Glycol change in Q1 2026 in South Korea?

Firmer naphtha did most of the work here, raising costs at South Korea's integrated complexes. Regional offtake stayed steady rather than surging.

Quarterly Ethylene Glycol Price Trends

The twelve months from Q2 2025 to Q2 2026 are really two different markets stitched together. Prices firmed gently through most of 2025, from near 475 USD/MT to about 498 USD/MT by Q3, before easing to close to 490 USD/MT in Q4 on year-end destocking. It was 2026 that changed the pace: Q1 brought a rise of just above 7.8% to near 528 USD/MT, and Q2 added a further 10.8% to about 585 USD/MT, a gain of roughly 23.2% from Q2 2025 packed into a single six-month stretch.

What was Ethylene Glycol Price in 2025?

Set against the volatility of 2026, the year 2025 looks almost quiet in hindsight. The global average opened near 462 USD/MT and closed at about 490 USD/MT, a gain of roughly 6.1% spread fairly evenly across the four quarters. Recovering polyester demand did most of the lifting.

Ethylene Glycol Prices in China in 2025

China's year was fairly steady: the prices moved from near 512 USD/MT in Q1 up to about 535 USD/MT by Q4, a gain of close to 4.5% that tracked the broader recovery in the polyester and PET demand.

Ethylene Glycol Prices in the United States in 2025

From near 405 USD/MT to about 425 USD/MT: that was the US story for the year, a modest climb of roughly 4.9% driven by steady antifreeze demand and largely range-bound ethylene costs.

Ethylene Glycol Prices in India in 2025

It was the expanding polyester fibre production that did the heavy lifting for India in 2025, pulling the prices from near 548 USD/MT in Q1 up to about 572 USD/MT by Q4, a gain of close to 4.4%, even as the underlying cost picture barely moved.

Ethylene Glycol Prices in Saudi Arabia in 2025

Saudi Arabia barely moved through the year, up just 3.7% from near 432 USD/MT in Q1 to about 448 USD/MT by Q4, the smallest change of the five regions in this report and roughly what one would expect from a low-cost, gas-advantaged producer.

Ethylene Glycol Prices in South Korea in 2025

South Korea kept pace with its regional peers through the year, the prices advancing close to 4.2% from near 478 USD/MT in Q1 to about 498 USD/MT by Q4 as the naphtha costs and export demand firmed together.

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