As a green plasticizer, the industrial production of dioctyl terephthalate (DOTP) is still facing the problemof high energy consumption. To optimize the production process and reactor, it is essential to understand the kineticbehavior of reaction system. In this work, the two-step consecutive esterification of solid terephthalic acid (PTA) and 2-ethylhexanol (2-EH) catalyzed by tetrabutyl titanate was studied. First, the equilibrium constants and enthalpies of thetwo-step reaction were experimentally determined and validated by the group contribution methods. Then, a pseudohomogeneouskinetic model was developed, and the reaction order of PTA was corrected to reflect its solid phase characteristic. Non-isothermal kinetic experiments were carried out under different initial feed molar ratios and catalystconcentrations, and the kinetic parameters in the model were estimated by mathematical regression. The model predicteddata agreed well with the experimental data. Finally, the analyses of reaction rate showed that the first-step reactionwas the rate-controlling step of the whole esterification process.