Japanese producer Idemitsu Kosan became the first producer to renominate its March paraxylene Asia Contract Price, dropping its second nomination $40/mt below its initial nomination to $940/mt CFR, a company source said Monday.
Fellow Japanese producer JX Nippon Oil & Energy nominated its March ACP at $980/mt CFR, while South Korea's SK Global Chemical and S-Oil nominated at $970/mt and $960/mt CFR respectively.
ExxonMobil was the last producer to nominate its March paraxylene Asia CP, at $970/mt CFR Monday.
The nominations are up from the major settlement in February at $900/mt CFR.
The average of the daily CFR Taiwan/China marker as of February 27 is $917.69/mt, S&P Global Platts data showed.
Against this backdrop, a source close to the ACP negotiations said Friday that a March settlement price of $920-$930/mt CFR looked both likely and reasonable.
When the February ACP negotiations concluded in a major settlement at $900/mt CFR on January 31, the average of the January daily marker was $882.56/mt, although the spot assessments rose above $900/mt in the week preceding the February ACP settlement.
The February daily assessment has mostly remained within a narrow band of $905-$920/mt CFR Taiwan/China, indicating relative stability in the face of some sharp declines in May PTA futures settled on the Zhengzhou Commodities Exchange.
