2-ethylhexanol (2-EH), the key alcohol used to make DOTP, DEHP and TOTM plasticizers, posted its sharpest regional price surge in years during Q2 2026, according to ChemAnalyst. Prices jumped about 51% in the United States, 19% in Japan, 89% in Germany, 16% in China, 56% in India and 85% in Belgium quarter-over-quarter, after the closure of the Strait of Hormuz at the end of February and rising crude lifted propylene — the main oxo-process feedstock — by about 40% in the US and 75% in Germany.

The 2026 sequence was dramatic: prices fell through the second half of 2025 on oversupply and high inventories, rose roughly 8–10% in Q1 2026 as Middle East conflict lifted crude, naphtha and propylene, then surged in Q2 as war-risk premiums and tight export allocations compounded the feedstock spike. In late March, US prices jumped 31.76% in a single week as Brent rose about 36% in a month and competitively priced Asian import cargoes all but disappeared. June assessments then eased below their Q2 averages as propylene corrected and war-risk premiums normalised, leaving a volatile, upside-biased outlook.

Supply dynamics are shifting: OQ Chemicals has been renamed Oxea after a lender-led recapitalisation, LG Chem is consolidating production from Naju to Yeosu, and BASF inaugurated its Zhanjiang Verbund site in China, which includes an oxo alcohols plant, in March 2026. In India, DGTR’s March 2026 sunset review found dumping would likely continue if duties on 2-EH from the EU, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Taiwan and the USA lapsed. Even as DEHP faces EU and US restrictions, its principal replacements DOTP and TOTM are themselves 2-EH esters, keeping plasticizer-linked demand structurally firm.