Ethylene glycol, usually known simply as glycol, is the most important
secondary product of ethylene oxide. In 1995 the world
capacity for ethylene glycol was about 9.7 x lo6 tonnes per
year, of which about 3.1, 0.99, and 0.83 x lo6 tonnes per year
were in the USA, Western Europe and Japan, respectively. The
production figures for ethylene glycol in these countries are
summarized in the adjacent table.