In April, the import of ethylene glycol (MEG) in China dropped by 55078 tons, or about 8%, to 633737 tons, according to the data released by China Customs.

The most notable changes are imports from South Korea, Canada, Japan and Taiwan.

China's imports from Korea increased by 50.1% to 55334 tons over March.

Imports from Japan, on the contrary, fell by 63.7% to 3775 tons.

In March, Canada exported 83566 tons of ethylene glycol to China, but sold 69547 tons in April.

Taiwan's exports to the mainland also declined, down 26523 tons, reaching 112794 tons in April.

The decline in imports was mainly attributable to the high ethylene glycol stock in the eastern ports of China.

Market participants estimate that about 500 thousand tons of ethylene glycol are stored in professional tanks in the eastern ports.

In the first four months of this year, China imported 2325758 tons of ethylene glycol, up 16.5% from 1996151 tons last year, reflecting strong consumer confidence at the beginning of this year.

As a result of excessive supply, the price of ethylene glycol has declined steadily since April 12th.

The buyers of ethylene glycol also track the price of PTA, and the price of PTA fluctuates in the futures market.

Downstream polyester production units also reported that the production and marketing rate dropped to 50-60%, which was due to weak demand, while the production units of PET bottle slicing were also forced to their selling price, so buyers wanted lower prices.