US April benzene contracts settled 7 cents lower than March at $2.99/gal, or $894/mt, sources said Monday.
April's settlement was in line with expectations among market participants that called for a settlement around $3/gal.
US benzene activity was considered quiet by industry players on a couple of ongoing production outages that would be back online mid-April, sources said. The market was also focusing on Asia price direction as China's supply length in benzene was good, which could result in more benzene heading toward the US.
Benzene contracts previously settled for March at $3.06/gal.
Spot pricing for April was last assessed Thursday at $2.96/gal FOB US Gulf Coast and $2.95/gal DDP USG, based on S&P Global Platts data. Spot values were talked in the $2.88-$2.95/gal range Monday afternoon.
