As a green plasticizer, the industrial production of dioctyl terephthalate (DOTP) is still facing the problem of high energy consumption. To optimize the production process and reactor, it is essential to understand the kinetic behavior 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 the two-step reaction were experimentally determined and validated by the group contribution methods. Then, a pseudohomogeneous kinetic 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 catalyst concentrations, and the kinetic parameters in the model were estimated by mathematical regression. The model predicted data agreed well with the experimental data. Finally, the analyses of reaction rate showed that the first-step reaction was the rate-controlling step of the whole esterification process.