Morning Market Update for Ethylene Oxide

I. Key Points

1. Oct 12: Houthi rebels continued attacks on Saudi Arabia, with instability in the Middle East driving up supply risks and pushing international oil prices higher. NYMEX crude oil futures (November contract) rose by USD 1.89/barrel to USD 93.74, a week-on-week increase of +2.06%. ICE Brent crude oil futures (December contract) rose by USD 1.93/barrel to USD 106.65, a week-on-week increase of +1.84%. China INE crude oil futures (December 2026 contract) fell by CNY 8.9 to CNY 709.5/barrel during the day session but rose by CNY 24.7 to CNY 734.2/barrel during the night session.
2. Oct 12: The portside ethylene USD basis CFR Northeast Asia price stood at USD 1,130/ton, remaining flat compared to the previous business day.
3. Oct 10: The daily capacity utilization rate for China's ethylene oxide industry was 54.05%.

II. Price Table

III. Market Outlook

The ethylene oxide market is expected to remain stable today. On the supply side, facilities that underwent maintenance earlier have not yet resumed operations, leading to tighter supply in certain regions. Meanwhile, prices for related product monoethylene glycol (MEG) have retreated from highs, raising expectations for potential production shifts toward ethylene oxide. Downstream major industries are primarily fulfilling existing orders, with limited new procurement, maintaining a wait-and-see sentiment in the market. Regarding costs, domestic ethylene prices remain stagnant with generally weak sales performance, making it difficult to boost external procurement demand. Overall, supported by the supply side, ethylene oxide prices are expected to trade steadily, requiring continued attention to developments upstream and downstream.

Data Source: Chemprice