European truck prices for solvent toluene are coming under pressure this week as producers seek to manage their inventory ahead of the new year, market sources said Tuesday.
The European truck price of solvent toluene was assessed at Eur690/mt FD NWE last week, but this week prices have been heard as low as Eur670/mt, a European distributor said.
"The truck market is a bit depressed, but feedstock is stable or rising," the distributor said.
The Antwerp-Rotterdam-Amsterdam barge spot price of toluene was last assessed at $705/mt CIF, up $15/mt from Monday.
European toluene has remained supported by a bullish benzene market since November, and more recently an arbitrage has opened up from Europe to the US Gulf Coast.
"Refiners want to move some volumes so there are more competitive [truck] prices this week compared to the last," said a second distributor source. "Nobody wants to have a full tank through the new year." He also noted that for the same reasons, demand for toluene trucks was rather disappointing this week.
