The European July styrene contract price was expected to be at a rollover to the June price or see a small decrease, according to industry sources.
The June styrene contract price was fully settled at Eur1,172.50/mt ($1,332/mt), up Eur42.50/mt from May.
A rollover or a small decrease of around Eur20/mt will place the July settlement in the range Eur1,150-1,172.50/mt.
Feedstock benzene and ethylene prices were expected to fall sharply, but styrene prices will be supported by reduced supply due to issues at Trinseo's Bohlen unit in Germany, according to a source.
July benzene spot trades were heard in the range $770-$800/mt in the past few days, compared with the June contract settlement level of $824/mt.
The July ethylene contract price was expected to settle below the June level of Eur1,015/mt. S&P Global Platts ethylene contract price indicator was last calculated at Eur974.50/mt Tuesday.
In the styrene spot market, there were mixed opinions regarding fundamentals for July.
While some sources said pending styrene imports from the Middle East and the US meant the European market was not tight, others said supply in early July was limited due to Trinseo's outage.
The backwardation was heard steepening between July and August due to perceived tightness in July. On Wednesday morning, at trader source pegged the backwardation between July and August around $25/mt.
Platts assessed the styrene spot price at $1,107.50/mt FOB ARA Tuesday, marking a decline from the spot assessment on June 1 of $1,133.50/mt.
However, July bids were heard at $1,120/mt Wednesday morning, pointing to a day-on-day increase in prices amid continued strength in the July spot market.
