Conclusion: The European Union imported 504,584 tonnes of monoethylene glycol (MEG, CN 2905 31 00) in the twelve months to July 2026, worth EUR 255.3 million, an average declared customs unit value of EUR 506 per tonne. Almost all of it came from two countries — the United States (63.3% of volume) and Saudi Arabia (35.9%) — which are also the two origins on which the European Commission imposed definitive anti-dumping duties in November 2021. Between the February 2026 trough of EUR 422 per tonne and July 2026, the average unit value Europe paid rose 58%, to EUR 665, on essentially unchanged monthly volumes.
Data updated: 2026-10-13
Latest 12 months (August 2025 – July 2026)
Eurostat’s Comext monthly series for EU27 extra-EU trade runs through July 2026, the latest month published when this note was compiled; UN Comtrade’s annual series runs through 2025 (first-reported, subject to revision) and its monthly series for India and the United States through June 2026.
EU27 extra-EU imports of MEG over the twelve months were 504,584 tonnes valued at EUR 255.3 million, an implied unit value of EUR 506 per tonne. Exports were only 12,684 tonnes valued at EUR 16.6 million, at EUR 1,307 per tonne: Europe shipped out about 2.5% of the volume it brought in, and at more than twice the unit value it paid for imports. This is a structural net-importer market, not a trading market.
The two named origins supplied 99.2% of import volume. The United States supplied 319,358 tonnes (63.3%) at EUR 501 per tonne and Saudi Arabia 181,034 tonnes (35.9%) at EUR 500. No other origin reached 1,100 tonnes in twelve months.
The decisive movement is in unit values, not volumes. Monthly import unit values sat between EUR 502 and EUR 536 through the first seven months of 2025, fell to a series low of EUR 422 in February 2026, then turned sharply higher: EUR 521 in April 2026, EUR 701 in May 2026 — the highest print in the series — then EUR 654 in June and EUR 665 in July. Quarterly averages make the break cleaner: EUR 449 per tonne in the second half of 2025, EUR 437 in the first quarter of 2026, and EUR 623 in the second quarter of 2026.
| Month | EU27 imports (t) | Imports (EUR m) | Imports (EUR/t) | EU27 exports (t) | Exports (EUR m) | Exports (EUR/t) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-01 | 32,819 | 16.5 | 502 | 1,741 | 1.9 | 1,093 |
| 2025-02 | 38,310 | 19.7 | 513 | 1,862 | 1.9 | 1,030 |
| 2025-03 | 45,813 | 24.3 | 530 | 1,059 | 1.4 | 1,344 |
| 2025-04 | 58,631 | 30.4 | 518 | 1,396 | 1.6 | 1,163 |
| 2025-05 | 39,780 | 21.3 | 536 | 1,180 | 1.3 | 1,118 |
| 2025-06 | 33,114 | 17.0 | 514 | 791 | 1.0 | 1,287 |
| 2025-07 | 31,651 | 16.2 | 511 | 1,166 | 1.3 | 1,149 |
| 2025-08 | 37,367 | 17.2 | 461 | 1,559 | 1.6 | 1,048 |
| 2025-09 | 38,506 | 17.0 | 442 | 1,285 | 1.6 | 1,277 |
| 2025-10 | 47,105 | 21.3 | 452 | 1,645 | 1.8 | 1,061 |
| 2025-11 | 49,628 | 21.6 | 434 | 909 | 1.2 | 1,325 |
| 2025-12 | 32,144 | 14.8 | 462 | 735 | 1.0 | 1,372 |
| 2026-01 | 50,695 | 23.3 | 459 | 837 | 1.1 | 1,279 |
| 2026-02 | 43,221 | 18.2 | 422 | 1,127 | 1.6 | 1,403 |
| 2026-03 | 42,386 | 18.0 | 425 | 1,815 | 2.0 | 1,108 |
| 2026-04 | 42,585 | 22.2 | 521 | 792 | 1.3 | 1,615 |
| 2026-05 | 44,632 | 31.3 | 701 | 540 | 1.0 | 1,848 |
| 2026-06 | 29,434 | 19.3 | 654 | 959 | 1.4 | 1,432 |
| 2026-07 | 46,879 | 31.2 | 665 | 481 | 1.0 | 2,157 |
Table 1 — EU27 extra-EU trade in monoethylene glycol, CN 2905 31 00, monthly, January 2025 to July 2026. Volume from QUANTITY_IN_100KG, value from VALUE_IN_EUROS; unit value = value ÷ volume. Source: Eurostat Comext DS-045409. Latest month published: 2026-07.
Where Europe’s MEG comes from, and what it costs
This is a two-source market, not a market with a long tail of suppliers. In July 2026 the United States shipped 34,538 tonnes and Saudi Arabia 12,170 tonnes, against 171 tonnes from all other origins combined. Across the nineteen months below, the residual third-country share exceeded 2,000 tonnes in one month only (2,550 tonnes in July 2025) and was usually a few hundred tonnes, at unit values several times the mainstream level — small specialty or sample consignments rather than bulk cargoes.
Two like-for-like seven-month windows isolate the shift. In January–July 2025 the EU imported 280,118 tonnes at EUR 519 per tonne, of which the United States supplied 106,707 tonnes (38.1%) and Saudi Arabia 169,087 tonnes (60.4%). In January–July 2026 it imported 299,833 tonnes at EUR 545 per tonne — 7.0% more volume — but the ranking had reversed: the United States supplied 201,024 tonnes (67.0%), up 88.4%, and Saudi Arabia 97,349 tonnes (32.5%), down 42.4%.
China’s absence deserves emphasis, because China is the world’s largest buyer of MEG. Over the twelve months, Chinese-origin MEG entering the EU totalled 1,054 tonnes — 0.2% of volume — at EUR 1,724 per tonne, a picture of small-lot flows rather than bulk trade. The same window saw 960 tonnes from Korea, 721 from Taiwan, 525 from Türkiye and 427 from Great Britain. For a European buyer seeking a second source, none of these is viable.
| Month | From United States (t) | US (EUR/t) | From Saudi Arabia (t) | Saudi (EUR/t) | All other origins (t) | Other (EUR/t) | Total imports (t) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-01 | 13,465 | 515 | 19,162 | 477 | 192 | 2,159 | 32,819 |
| 2025-02 | 12,556 | 544 | 25,362 | 481 | 393 | 1,601 | 38,310 |
| 2025-03 | 19,014 | 536 | 26,421 | 519 | 377 | 1,046 | 45,813 |
| 2025-04 | 27,188 | 528 | 31,239 | 507 | 205 | 952 | 58,631 |
| 2025-05 | 15,333 | 566 | 24,174 | 512 | 274 | 1,011 | 39,780 |
| 2025-06 | 7,595 | 557 | 25,186 | 492 | 333 | 1,239 | 33,114 |
| 2025-07 | 11,557 | 515 | 17,544 | 492 | 2,550 | 627 | 31,651 |
| 2025-08 | 20,835 | 449 | 15,519 | 452 | 1,013 | 834 | 37,367 |
| 2025-09 | 21,687 | 430 | 16,366 | 442 | 453 | 1,002 | 38,506 |
| 2025-10 | 29,946 | 446 | 16,414 | 442 | 745 | 940 | 47,105 |
| 2025-11 | 28,826 | 432 | 20,516 | 424 | 287 | 1,453 | 49,628 |
| 2025-12 | 17,039 | 476 | 14,870 | 425 | 235 | 1,771 | 32,144 |
| 2026-01 | 31,270 | 478 | 19,189 | 418 | 237 | 1,268 | 50,695 |
| 2026-02 | 32,666 | 418 | 10,371 | 417 | 184 | 1,391 | 43,221 |
| 2026-03 | 26,938 | 424 | 15,221 | 418 | 227 | 1,039 | 42,386 |
| 2026-04 | 25,129 | 514 | 17,158 | 521 | 298 | 1,073 | 42,585 |
| 2026-05 | 29,244 | 663 | 15,235 | 770 | 153 | 1,112 | 44,632 |
| 2026-06 | 21,240 | 604 | 8,006 | 757 | 188 | 1,966 | 29,434 |
| 2026-07 | 34,538 | 646 | 12,170 | 707 | 171 | 1,615 | 46,879 |
Table 2 — EU27 extra-EU imports of MEG by origin, monthly, with each origin’s unit value. “All other origins” is the total less the two named origins. Source: Eurostat Comext DS-045409, partner EXT_EU27_2020, partner US and partner SA.
The global supply picture behind the EU market
Analysis — sourced to UN Comtrade annual data. The two origins that dominate Europe’s import book are also two of the world’s largest exporters. Saudi Arabia’s reported exports grew from 2,252,934 tonnes in 2020 to 6,372,310 tonnes in 2025, up 183%. The United States reported 3,210,267 tonnes in 2025, up from 2,218,242 tonnes in 2020. Canada reported 922,817 tonnes in 2025, Kuwait 1,494,449 tonnes and Malaysia 316,246 tonnes.
The demand side explains why the European market is contested. China, the largest buyer in the panel, reported imports of 10,547,934 tonnes in 2020 and 7,720,437 tonnes in 2025 — down 27% over five years, but a rebound from 6,554,133 tonnes in 2024. Mexico reported 380,261 tonnes in 2025 and Egypt 217,559 tonnes. Europe’s 504,584 tonnes is a price-taking share of world trade.
| Reporter and flow | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025* |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saudi Arabia exports (t) | 2,252,934 | 2,358,636 | 2,416,821 | 3,923,611 | 6,020,914 | 6,372,310 |
| Saudi Arabia exports (USD/t) | 420 | 617 | 563 | 688 | 462 | 469 |
| United States exports (t) | 2,218,242 | 2,051,322 | 2,710,797 | n/r | 3,335,179 | 3,210,267 |
| United States exports (USD/t) | 420 | 642 | 617 | n/r | 526 | 493 |
| Canada exports (t) | 1,576,224 | 1,087,718 | 943,090 | 979,453 | 870,448 | 922,817 |
| Kuwait exports (t) | 944,296 | 1,021,625 | 1,033,684 | 1,356,992 | 1,284,647 | 1,494,449 |
| Malaysia exports (t) | 207,142 | 190,853 | 189,768 | 240,477 | 301,006 | 316,246 |
| China imports (t) | 10,547,934 | 8,426,405 | 7,510,692 | 7,148,205 | 6,554,133 | 7,720,437 |
| China imports (USD/t) | 464 | 669 | 599 | 485 | 532 | 522 |
| Mexico imports (t) | 306,776 | 426,883 | 458,810 | 381,219 | 371,348 | 380,261 |
| Egypt imports (t) | 29,788 | 84,734 | 213,132 | 305,741 | 267,547 | 217,559 |
Table 3 — Annual trade in monoethylene glycol, HS 290531, 2020–2025, reporters’ own submissions. “n/r” means a customs value was filed without a net weight, so no unit value can be computed; no estimate has been substituted. *2025 is first-reported and subject to revision; only ten of the panel’s reporters filed both value and net weight for 2025, so the 2025 unit-value column is indicative only and no year-on-year unit-value conclusion is drawn from it. Source: UN Comtrade public preview API.
The duty regime behind those unit values
Analysis — regulatory facts, each traceable to the sources listed below. On 18 November 2021 the European Commission announced definitive anti-dumping duties on imports of MEG from the United States of America and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: 7.7% for Saudi producers and 3.0% to 60.1% for United States producers, depending on the exporting producer. The Commission put the EU MEG market at EUR 860 million and described MEG as the main raw material for polyethylene terephthalate — PET, used in bottles and polyester fibre — and for coolants.
The measure was contested. On 17 August 2021 Saudi Arabia requested WTO consultations over the EU’s provisional anti-dumping duty on MEG from Saudi Arabia. That dispute — DS606 — is why the rates applicable to specific producers should be read from the Commission’s trade-defence register rather than from any secondary summary, including this one.
India is litigating the same product. Its Directorate General of Trade Remedies opened a case on MEG from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the USA in 2021 and terminated it on 27 November 2024; a separate investigation initiated on 27 September 2024, on a complaint by the Chemicals and Petrochemicals Association of India for Reliance Industries, covers Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Singapore and remains live.
For the data above, the implication is narrow but real: the origins supplying 99.2% of EU import volume are the origins carrying duties, so Table 2’s unit values are duty-inclusive landed values for most cargoes rather than producer offers.
Why unit values turned up in the second quarter of 2026
Analysis / outlook — a macro backdrop for the customs series, not a forecast of MEG prices. The timing of the break aligns with a documented energy and logistics shock rather than with anything specific to glycols. The U.S. Energy Information Administration describes the second quarter of 2026 as one of continued disruption to international crude oil and petroleum product flows through the Strait of Hormuz, contributing to higher and more volatile crude oil prices through most of the quarter. The International Energy Agency separately tracks the disruption to oil and gas flows through the strait and attacks on regional energy infrastructure. MEG is made by oxidising ethylene from naphtha or ethane, and both principal suppliers ship across the Atlantic or out of the Gulf, so an energy shock has a plausible channel into the unit values recorded here.
An independent customs source points the same way. The United States’ own monthly export returns to UN Comtrade show export unit values of USD 390 per tonne in February 2026 and USD 581 in May 2026, the same April inflection and a 49% increase, measured on the exporter’s side rather than the importer’s; India’s reported MEG import unit values moved from USD 434 in February 2026 to USD 707 in June 2026. Two-source agreement strengthens the finding without establishing a cause: customs unit values average a whole tariff line, mix grades and contract types, and cannot separate feedstock cost, freight, insurance and duty. No subscription price assessment from ICIS, Platts, Argus or Wood Mackenzie has been used anywhere in this note.
What buyers of MEG should be checking
Analysis / outlook — each point traceable to the sources listed below.
- Treat supplier concentration as the primary risk, not the price. Two origins supply 99.2% of EU import volume and both carry anti-dumping measures; one plant outage or freight disruption on either lane is a portfolio problem for a buyer on a monthly call-off.
- Confirm the producer, not just the country, on duty-bearing origins. The United States schedule runs from 3.0% to 60.1% by exporting producer, so a country-level landed-cost assumption will be wrong for some consignments.
- Watch India, not just Europe. India’s live investigation into MEG from Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Singapore determines where Gulf and North American volume is pushed when one market closes.
Related product coverage on this site
Monoethylene glycol is made from ethylene oxide, covered here in its own right and on a narrower tariff line. Its nearest structural relative among the glycols is propylene glycol, and the polyester chain that consumes most of the world’s MEG runs through the paraxylene and PTA complex.
Data limitations
- Monthly coverage. The Eurostat series runs 2025-01 to 2026-07; recent months are the most likely to be revised, and one month’s unit value can be moved by the grade mix of a few cargoes.
- Product scope. CN 2905 31 00 covers ethylene glycol, while the anti-dumping measures use a TARIC subdivision of the same line; the customs figures are therefore an upper bound on the investigated product.
- Annual gaps. Some reporters filed values without net weights, and only ten of the panel’s reporters filed both for 2025; those cells show n/r and no estimate has been substituted.
- Unit values are not prices. They are declared customs value divided by declared net weight, not market or contract prices.
- Non-comparability of aggregates. UN Comtrade’s “European Union” aggregate and Eurostat’s extra-EU27 series are not interchangeable; every EU figure here comes from Eurostat.
Data sources
- Eurostat, Comext DS-045409, monthly extra-EU27 trade, CN 2905 31 00, partner EXT_EU27_2020, flows 1 and 2 — API query — https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/api/comext/dissemination/statistics/1.0/data/DS-045409?format=JSON&freq=M&reporter=EU27_2020&partner=EXT_EU27_2020&product=29053100&flow=1&flow=2&indicators=VALUE_IN_EUROS&indicators=QUANTITY_IN_100KG&sinceTimePeriod=2025-01 (accessed 2026-10-13)
- Eurostat, Comext DS-045409, CN 2905 31 00, imports, partner US — https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/api/comext/dissemination/statistics/1.0/data/DS-045409?format=JSON&freq=M&reporter=EU27_2020&partner=US&product=29053100&flow=1&indicators=VALUE_IN_EUROS&indicators=QUANTITY_IN_100KG&sinceTimePeriod=2025-01 (accessed 2026-10-13)
- Eurostat, Comext DS-045409, CN 2905 31 00, imports, partner SA — https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/api/comext/dissemination/statistics/1.0/data/DS-045409?format=JSON&freq=M&reporter=EU27_2020&partner=SA&product=29053100&flow=1&indicators=VALUE_IN_EUROS&indicators=QUANTITY_IN_100KG&sinceTimePeriod=2025-01 (accessed 2026-10-13)
- Eurostat, Comext DS-045409, database entry point — https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/DS-045409/default/table (accessed 2026-10-13)
- European Commission, DG Trade and Economic Security, “Commission imposes definitive duties in three anti-dumping cases”, 18 November 2021 — duty rates, the EUR 860 million EU MEG market — https://policy.trade.ec.europa.eu/news/commission-imposes-definitive-duties-three-anti-dumping-cases-defend-eu-producers-and-protect-jobs-2021-11-18_en (accessed 2026-10-13)
- World Trade Organization, DS606: European Union — Provisional Anti-Dumping Duty on Mono-Ethylene Glycol from Saudi Arabia, consultations requested 17 August 2021 — https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/dispu_e/cases_e/ds606_e.htm (accessed 2026-10-13)
- Directorate General of Trade Remedies, India, MEG from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and USA — File No. F.No. 6/8/2021-DGTR; termination notification 27 November 2024 — https://dgtr.gov.in/en/anti-dumping-cases/anti-dumping-investigation-concerning-imports-monoethylene-glycol-meg-saudi (accessed 2026-10-13)
- Pharmabiz, “DGTR initiates anti-dumping investigation on MEG imports from Kuwait, Saudi Arabia & Singapore”, 21 October 2024 — initiation 27 September 2024 and the CPMA/Reliance complaint — https://www.pharmabiz.com/NewsDetails.aspx?aid=173125&sid=1 (accessed 2026-10-13)
- U.S. Energy Information Administration, “Petroleum markets responded to disruptions in the Middle East in the second quarter of 2026”, 15 July 2026 — https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=67865 (accessed 2026-10-13)
- International Energy Agency, “The Middle East and Global Energy Markets” — Hormuz flows and regional energy infrastructure — https://www.iea.org/topics/the-middle-east-and-global-energy-markets (accessed 2026-10-13)
- UN Comtrade, public preview API, annual HS 290531, reporters Saudi Arabia (682) and USA (842), exports 2025 — https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?includeDesc=true&reporterCode=682,842&period=2025&flowCode=X&cmdCode=290531&partnerCode=0 (accessed 2026-10-13)
- UN Comtrade, public preview API, monthly HS 290531, reporter USA (842), exports, periods 202601–202606 — https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/M/HS?includeDesc=true&reporterCode=842&period=202606&flowCode=X,M&cmdCode=290531&partnerCode=0 (accessed 2026-10-13)
- UN Comtrade, public preview API, monthly HS 290531, reporter India (699), imports, periods 202601–202606 — https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/M/HS?includeDesc=true&reporterCode=699&period=202606&flowCode=X,M&cmdCode=290531&partnerCode=0 (accessed 2026-10-13)
If you are pricing, sourcing or underwriting monoethylene glycol and need the underlying monthly series, origin-level unit-value bands, or a producer-by-producer duty and landed-cost breakdown for the EU27, request a sample report or a custom research brief.