China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation, or Sinopec, lowered its ex-works orthoxylene offers in East China by Yuan 200/mt on Monday, trade sources said Friday.
Yangzi-BASF and Sinopec Zhenhai, the company's subsidiaries in East China, are currently offering OX at Yuan 7,100/mt, equivalent to about $863.80/mt on an import parity basis.
This is the second cut this year, according to S&P Global Platts data.
The last time Sinopec had reduced OX prices was on January 11 and it was lowered by Yuan 300/mt to Yuan 6,900/mt. Subsequently, Sinopec had raised prices twice in February.
According to a source, Sinopec cut prices as OX stocks in China's ports were not moving amid thin trades.
Further exacerbating the situation was weakening downstream demand for OX-based PA, as PA producers preferred to use cheaper feedstock naphthalene to make PA.
Indications of tradable levels in the domestic OX-based PA market fell Yuan 300/mt to Yuan 7,000/mt this week, while naphthalene-based PA slid Yuan 200/mt week on week to Yuan 6,800/mt.
Orthoxylene inventories at the East China port currently stand at 50,000 mt, which is considered more than ample, according to sources.
