Conclusion: The European Union imported 520,442 tonnes of terephthalic acid (PTA, CN 2917 36 00) in the twelve months to July 2026, worth EUR 340.2 million, an average declared customs unit value of EUR 654 per tonne. Korea and Mexico — the two origins against which the European Commission imposed definitive anti-dumping duties on 10 August 2026 — supplied 27.7% of that volume, down from 53.1% in the equivalent January–July window of 2025, while recorded Mexican shipments stopped entirely from January 2026. For anyone buying PTA into Europe, the landed-cost arithmetic has already changed.
Data updated: 2026-10-12
Latest 12 months (August 2025 – July 2026)
This section covers the most recent twelve-month window for which monthly customs records exist. Eurostat’s Comext monthly series for EU27 extra-EU trade runs through July 2026, the latest month published at the time of writing; UN Comtrade’s annual data runs through 2025, which is first-reported and subject to revision; Comtrade’s monthly series for India and the United States runs through June 2026. Where a series could not be extended, that is stated explicitly rather than silently truncated.
Over the twelve months, EU27 extra-EU imports of terephthalic acid were 520,442 tonnes valued at EUR 340.2 million, an implied unit value of EUR 654 per tonne. Exports over the same window were 185,092 tonnes valued at EUR 127.2 million, an implied unit value of EUR 687 per tonne — the bloc exported less than 40% of the volume it imported, but at a higher average unit value than it paid for imports.
By named origin, Korea supplied 113,354 tonnes (21.8% of import volume) at EUR 635 per tonne; China supplied 46,395 tonnes (8.9%) at EUR 579 per tonne, the lowest average of any origin; and Mexico supplied 30,599 tonnes (5.9%) at EUR 664 per tonne. Korea and Mexico together accounted for 143,952 tonnes, or 27.7% of the volume.
The remaining 326,102 tonnes — 62.7% of all imports — are recorded under Eurostat partner code “QZ”, the residual categories that cannot be attributed to a named origin; that bucket is discussed in its own section below.
| Month | EU27 imports (t) | Imports (EUR m) | Imports (EUR/t) | EU27 exports (t) | Exports (EUR m) | Exports (EUR/t) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-01 | 89,484 | 61.8 | 691 | 6,054 | 4.5 | 747 |
| 2025-02 | 30,355 | 22.3 | 735 | 11,872 | 8.9 | 750 |
| 2025-03 | 103,255 | 73.0 | 707 | 5,393 | 4.1 | 758 |
| 2025-04 | 116,349 | 78.9 | 678 | 5,413 | 3.5 | 654 |
| 2025-05 | 52,246 | 35.2 | 673 | 8,114 | 5.3 | 651 |
| 2025-06 | 82,072 | 51.2 | 624 | 21,572 | 13.5 | 624 |
| 2025-07 | 54,199 | 32.4 | 597 | 24,968 | 15.4 | 616 |
| 2025-08 | 50,236 | 30.2 | 600 | 22,133 | 13.0 | 588 |
| 2025-09 | 84,500 | 52.3 | 619 | 22,968 | 14.1 | 612 |
| 2025-10 | 21,346 | 13.8 | 649 | 10,551 | 6.4 | 605 |
| 2025-11 | 32,014 | 20.3 | 633 | 24,573 | 13.7 | 558 |
| 2025-12 | 51,853 | 30.3 | 585 | 5,475 | 3.4 | 616 |
| 2026-01 | 61,876 | 36.0 | 581 | 9,593 | 6.1 | 633 |
| 2026-02 | 15,889 | 9.4 | 590 | 8,642 | 5.5 | 632 |
| 2026-03 | 36,650 | 22.2 | 606 | 9,431 | 6.8 | 726 |
| 2026-04 | 34,809 | 22.7 | 652 | 18,533 | 15.8 | 853 |
| 2026-05 | 36,931 | 27.7 | 749 | 4,870 | 4.0 | 820 |
| 2026-06 | 58,866 | 47.1 | 800 | 17,056 | 13.8 | 809 |
| 2026-07 | 35,472 | 28.3 | 798 | 31,266 | 24.6 | 788 |
Table 1 — EU27 extra-EU trade in terephthalic acid, CN 2917 36 00, monthly, January 2025 to July 2026. Volume from QUANTITY_IN_100KG (converted from 100 kg), value from VALUE_IN_EUROS; unit value = value ÷ volume. Source: Eurostat Comext dataset DS-045409 (see source list). Latest month published: 2026-07.
| Month | Imports from Korea (t) | Korea (EUR/t) | Imports from Mexico (t) | Mexico (EUR/t) | Korea + Mexico share of EU import volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-01 | 31,214 | 689 | 6,991 | 726 | 42.7% |
| 2025-02 | 23,148 | 731 | 7,190 | 746 | 99.9% |
| 2025-03 | 32,579 | 705 | 19,614 | 774 | 50.5% |
| 2025-04 | 41,620 | 702 | 13,636 | 750 | 47.5% |
| 2025-05 | 22,699 | 690 | 17,193 | 705 | 76.4% |
| 2025-06 | 23,779 | 649 | 16,036 | 641 | 48.5% |
| 2025-07 | 18,165 | 576 | 6,454 | 660 | 45.4% |
| 2025-08 | 15,187 | 575 | 9,052 | 658 | 48.3% |
| 2025-09 | 8,963 | 631 | 9,217 | 671 | 21.5% |
| 2025-10 | 11,531 | 632 | 5,403 | 664 | 79.3% |
| 2025-11 | 19,265 | 637 | 4,994 | 667 | 75.8% |
| 2025-12 | 20,061 | 593 | 1,933 | 643 | 42.4% |
| 2026-01 | 17,541 | 574 | 0 | n/a | 28.3% |
| 2026-02 | 3,012 | 645 | 0 | n/a | 19.0% |
| 2026-03 | 1,527 | 613 | 0 | n/a | 4.2% |
| 2026-04 | 47 | 712 | 0 | n/a | 0.1% |
| 2026-05 | 2,306 | 730 | 0 | n/a | 6.2% |
| 2026-06 | 8,612 | 706 | 0 | n/a | 14.6% |
| 2026-07 | 5,303 | 1,011 | 0 | n/a | 14.9% |
Table 2 — EU27 imports of terephthalic acid from Korea and Mexico, monthly, with each origin’s combined share of total EU27 import volume. “0” means Eurostat recorded no monthly import volume from that origin; “n/a” means no unit value can be computed in a month with no volume. Source: Eurostat Comext DS-045409, partner KR, partner MX and partner EXT_EU27_2020.
The global supply picture behind the EU case
Analysis / outlook — sourced to UN Comtrade annual data. China’s exports grew from 847,489 tonnes in 2020 to 4,417,984 tonnes in 2024, with the average unit value easing from USD 848 per tonne in 2022 to USD 720 in 2024; Korea shipped 2,198,327 tonnes in 2024 at USD 745. The European Union’s own reported exports fell from 793,469 tonnes in 2021 to 168,522 tonnes in 2025, consistent with the loss of market share the Commission found. On the demand side, India’s reported imports rose from 397,598 tonnes in 2020 to 2,131,845 tonnes in 2025. Mexico appears only as an importer here: the preview API returns no Mexican export records for HS 291736 in 2020–2025.
| Reporter and flow | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025* |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| China exports (t) | 847,489 | n/r | 3,447,239 | 3,509,613 | 4,417,984 | n/r |
| China exports (USD/t) | 467 | n/r | 848 | 769 | 720 | n/r |
| Rep. of Korea exports (t) | 1,950,357 | 1,412,591 | n/r | 2,088,615 | 2,198,327 | n/r |
| Rep. of Korea exports (USD/t) | 475 | 680 | n/r | 800 | 745 | n/r |
| Other Asia, nes exports (t) | 1,056,084 | 1,019,511 | n/r | 727,817 | 827,356 | n/r |
| Other Asia, nes exports (USD/t) | 455 | 647 | n/r | 781 | 777 | n/r |
| India imports (t) | 397,598 | 1,383,213 | 1,652,661 | 1,587,066 | 1,997,008 | 2,131,845 |
| India imports (USD/t) | 524 | 733 | 904 | 811 | 780 | 669 |
| Türkiye imports (t) | n/r | 1,593,561 | n/r | n/r | 2,026,318 | 1,582,343 |
| Türkiye imports (USD/t) | n/r | 762 | n/r | n/r | 818 | 700 |
| European Union exports (t) | n/r | 793,469 | 536,248 | 304,328 | n/r | 168,522 |
| European Union exports (USD/t) | n/r | 742 | 996 | 845 | n/r | 706 |
Table 3 — Annual trade in terephthalic acid, HS 291736, 2020–2025, reporters’ own submissions. “n/r” means the reporter filed a customs value without a net weight for that year, so no unit value can be computed; no estimate has been substituted. *2025 is first-reported and subject to revision. Source: UN Comtrade public preview API.
What the Commission decided, and when
Analysis — regulatory facts, each traceable to the sources listed below. On 10 August 2026 the European Commission announced that it had imposed definitive anti-dumping duties on imports of terephthalic acid from the Republic of Korea and Mexico. The duty on Korean material ranges from 6.1% to 13.3% depending on the exporting producer; all imports from Mexico carry a single rate of 24.1%. The Commission states that the EU market for terephthalic acid is worth some EUR 1.4 billion and that the EU industry directly employs around 600 people in Belgium, Poland and Spain.
The chronology matters for reading the customs data. The complaint was lodged by INEOS Aromatics on 30 June 2025; the Commission opened its investigation on 13 August 2025; imports were made subject to registration; provisional duties took effect on 11 April 2026; and Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/1904 was adopted on 7 August 2026 and published on 10 August 2026, providing for definitive collection of the provisional duties.
One scope caveat applies throughout. The investigation covers CN code ex 2917 36 00, a subdivision of the tariff line, while the Eurostat series used here is all of CN 2917 36 00; the volumes and unit values are therefore an upper bound on the investigated product.
What changed in the trade data
Analysis — derived from the customs series above. Comparing two like-for-like seven-month windows is the cleanest way to see the shift. In January–July 2025 the EU imported 527,960 tonnes of PTA at EUR 672 per tonne, of which Korea (193,204 tonnes) and Mexico (87,115 tonnes) supplied 53.1%. In January–July 2026 the EU imported 280,493 tonnes at EUR 689 per tonne — a fall of 46.9% in volume — and Korea (38,347 tonnes) and Mexico (nothing at all) supplied just 13.7%.
The decline is not spread across the supplier base. The unattributed QZ bucket was 199,942 tonnes in January–July 2025 and 205,675 tonnes in January–July 2026, essentially unchanged, while the two named origins lost a combined 241,972 tonnes. Whatever replaced Korean and Mexican material is largely not visible as a named origin.
Unit values moved less than volumes. The average import unit value rose only from EUR 672 to EUR 689 per tonne across the two windows, while the EU’s average export unit value climbed from EUR 662 to EUR 771 per tonne, with monthly export unit values above EUR 800 from April to July 2026.
Analysis / outlook — an arithmetic illustration, not a market forecast. At the twelve-month average unit values, a 24.1% duty on Mexican material priced around EUR 664 per tonne adds roughly EUR 160 per tonne, and the 6.1–13.3% Korean range adds roughly EUR 39 to EUR 84 per tonne on material averaging EUR 635 per tonne. Those figures are simple multiplications of a published rate by a published average customs value; the duty is charged on the customs value of individual consignments, and the twelve-month averages span months before the duties applied.
One warning: Korea’s July 2026 unit value was EUR 1,011 per tonne on just 5,303 tonnes, the window’s highest. Small volumes with mixed grades move averages sharply, and a single month’s print is a poor basis for a sourcing decision.
Why most EU imports of this product cannot be attributed to a country
Analysis — a data-quality finding from the customs series above. Eurostat partner code QZ is defined as “countries and territories not specified for commercial or military reasons in the framework of extra-Union trade”. It is not a rounding residual: it carried 326,102 of the 520,442 tonnes imported in the twelve months to July 2026, or 62.7%, so named origins account for only about 37% of import volume. Such channels appear when so few importers or suppliers exist that publishing the partner would disclose company data, which means the supplier mix can be measured precisely only for the named origins — Korea, China, Mexico, Türkiye and Thailand here — while the rest must be inferred from producer announcements or the Commission’s case file.
What buyers of terephthalic acid should be checking
Analysis / outlook — each point traceable to the sources listed below.
- Match your supplier to a named producer and TARIC additional code. — The Korean duty is tiered by exporting producer between 6.1% and 13.3%, and the residual rate applies by default to any consignment that cannot be matched. Buyers sourcing Korean material should confirm the producer name and additional code on commercial documents rather than assuming a single national rate.
- Rebuild landed-cost calculations. — A 24.1% rate on Mexican-origin PTA is a step change, not a rounding difference, and the twelve-month averages in Table 2 include months before the measures applied.
- Watch the monthly volumes for origin substitution. — Eurostat’s monthly Comext print is the fastest public indicator of whether volume is shifting to another named origin or disappearing into the unattributed bucket.
- Do not read unit values as prices or dumping margins. — A customs unit value is declared value divided by declared net weight for a tariff line wider than the investigated product. Only the Commission’s determination establishes dumping; the rates above are that determination, not a price forecast.
Related product coverage on this site
Terephthalic acid sits at the end of the paraxylene chain: the upstream feedstock is covered in our para-xylene market analysis and the broader isomer family in our xylene market analysis. Its nearest aromatic-acid relative here, used in the plasticiser rather than the polyester chain, is covered in our phthalic anhydride market analysis.
Data limitations
- Monthly coverage. The Eurostat Comext series used here begins in 2025-01 and extends to 2026-07, the latest month published when this note was compiled; the most recent months are the most likely to be revised. Comtrade monthly data for India and the United States extends to 2026-06.
- Product scope. Eurostat line CN 2917 36 00 is wider than the CN ex 2917 36 00 subdivision named in the anti-dumping proceeding, so all EU figures here are an upper bound on the investigated product.
- Missing net weights. Several reporters in the annual panel filed customs values without net weights for individual years; those cells show n/r and no estimate has been substituted.
- Unit values are not prices. “Unit value” means declared customs value divided by declared net weight, not a market or contract price. No subscription assessment from ICIS, Platts, Argus or Wood Mackenzie has been used.
- Non-comparability of aggregates. UN Comtrade’s “European Union” reporter aggregate and Eurostat’s extra-EU27 series are not interchangeable for this product. Every EU figure here comes from Eurostat; Comtrade is used only for non-EU reporters.
Data sources
- European Commission, Directorate-General for Trade and Economic Security, “Commission acts against dumped imports of terephthalic acid”, 10 August 2026 — definitive duty rates of 6.1%–13.3% for Korea and 24.1% for Mexico, the EUR 1.4 billion EU market and around 600 direct jobs in Belgium, Poland and Spain — https://policy.trade.ec.europa.eu/news/commission-acts-against-dumped-imports-terephthalic-acid-2026-08-10_en (accessed 2026-10-12)
- Polyestertime, “EU Terephthalic Acid Duties Deliver Powerful Protection”, 10 August 2026 — complaint by INEOS Aromatics on 30 June 2025, investigation opened 13 August 2025, registration of imports, provisional duties April 2026, and adoption of Regulation (EU) 2026/1904 on 7 August 2026 with publication on 10 August 2026 — https://www.polyestertime.com/terephthalic-acid-duties-eu/ (accessed 2026-10-12)
- ChemAnalyst, “Terephthalic Acid Imports Face EU Anti Dumping Duties From 11 August 2026”, 12 August 2026 — duty rates, provisional duties in force since 11 April 2026, definitive collection, and the tiered nature of the Korean schedule — https://www.chemanalyst.com/NewsAndDeals/NewsDetails/terephthalic-acid-imports-face-eu-anti-dumping-duties-43875 (accessed 2026-10-12)
- Agence Europe, “European Commission adopts provisional anti-dumping duties on imports of terephthalic acid from Korea and Mexico”, 9 April 2026 — provisional stage and the finding of material injury — https://agenceurope.eu/en/bulletin/article/13846/14/european-commission-adopts-provisional-anti-dumping-duties-on-imports-of-terephthalic-acid-from-korea-and-mexico (accessed 2026-10-12)
- Eurostat, Comext dataset DS-045409, monthly extra-EU27 trade, CN 2917 36 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=29173600&flow=1&flow=2&indicators=VALUE_IN_EUROS&indicators=QUANTITY_IN_100KG&sinceTimePeriod=2025-01 (accessed 2026-10-12)
- Eurostat, Comext dataset DS-045409, monthly extra-EU27 trade, CN 2917 36 00, imports, partner KR — API query — https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/api/comext/dissemination/statistics/1.0/data/DS-045409?format=JSON&freq=M&reporter=EU27_2020&partner=KR&product=29173600&flow=1&indicators=VALUE_IN_EUROS&indicators=QUANTITY_IN_100KG&sinceTimePeriod=2025-01 (accessed 2026-10-12)
- Eurostat, Comext dataset DS-045409, monthly extra-EU27 trade, CN 2917 36 00, imports, partner MX — API query — https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/api/comext/dissemination/statistics/1.0/data/DS-045409?format=JSON&freq=M&reporter=EU27_2020&partner=MX&product=29173600&flow=1&indicators=VALUE_IN_EUROS&indicators=QUANTITY_IN_100KG&sinceTimePeriod=2025-01 (accessed 2026-10-12)
- Eurostat, Comext dataset DS-045409, monthly extra-EU27 trade, CN 2917 36 00, imports, partner QZ (countries and territories not specified for commercial or military reasons in the framework of extra-Union trade) — API query — https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/api/comext/dissemination/statistics/1.0/data/DS-045409?format=JSON&freq=M&reporter=EU27_2020&partner=QZ&product=29173600&flow=1&indicators=VALUE_IN_EUROS&indicators=QUANTITY_IN_100KG&sinceTimePeriod=2025-01 (accessed 2026-10-12)
- Eurostat, Comext dataset DS-045409, database entry point — https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/DS-045409/default/table (accessed 2026-10-12)
- UN Comtrade, public preview API, annual HS 291736, reporter China (156), exports 2025 — https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?includeDesc=true&reporterCode=156&period=2025&flowCode=X&cmdCode=291736&partnerCode=0 (accessed 2026-10-12)
- UN Comtrade, public preview API, monthly HS 291736, reporter USA (842), imports 2026-06 — https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/M/HS?includeDesc=true&reporterCode=842&period=202606&flowCode=M&cmdCode=291736&partnerCode=0 (accessed 2026-10-12)
If you are pricing, sourcing or underwriting terephthalic acid and need the underlying monthly series, origin-level unit-value bands, or a supplier-by-supplier breakdown for the EU27, request a sample report or a custom research brief.