China's imports

Local MEG inventory in the US market was tight previously due to the shutdown of Lotte, MEGlobal and Nan Ya. Loadings of US cargoes to China continued decreasing in January and February. China's MEG imports from the US and Canada is estimated at about 100kt per month, and those cargoes are expected to arrive in China in February-April. In addition, suppliers are also inactive to ship MEG to China due to the low price in China.

In Saudi Arabia, Yansab has shut its 910kt/year MEG plant for maintenance. Kayan also plans to shut its 850kt/year plant for maintenance. Sharq is also running its units at lowered rate. Output in Saudi Arabia will decrease apparently in the first quarter and month loadings are expected to fell to about 260-280kt. As a result, some suppliers are also seeking spot cargoes in the market.

PRefChem mainly sells its cargoes to Thailand, and there are no cargoes to China yet. Increase from this plant to China will be seen in March, estimated at about 10-20kt.

As of Iran's cargoes, about 40kt were loaded in H2 Jan and which were expected to arrive in China in H2 Feb. Morvarid unexpectedly shut in early Feb without restart timing yet. No tenders of Morvarid are heard. In Kuwait, EQUATE is running its two units at lowered rate and the contract supply has been also lowered. The 530kta unit will be shut in March for annual maintenance. The contract supply gap will be larger in March.

In general, China's MEG imports will drop to a record low in March-April, estimated at about 480-500kt.