May 21 – A 450,000-ton/year ethylene glycol/diethylene glycol unit in East China began a scheduled maintenance shutdown on May 20, which is expected to last approximately 40 days.

According to Chempricehub's assessment of ethylene glycol, with a long-short rating of +1: The 40-day shutdown of this 450,000-ton/year unit is estimated to reduce supply by about 49,000 tons, tightening market supply and providing clear support to ethylene glycol spot prices. In the futures market, the main contract for ethylene glycol (2609) on the Dalian Commodity Exchange closed at 4,731 yuan/ton on May 20, up 24 yuan/ton from the previous trading day. Expectations of reduced supply are further expected to boost futures prices.

For diethylene glycol, the long-short rating is +0.5: Since the unit produces both ethylene glycol and diethylene glycol, the shutdown will simultaneously reduce diethylene glycol market supply, lending some positive support to diethylene glycol spot prices.