Singapore — Isomer-grade mixed xylene cargoes were moving from the US Gulf to Northeast Asia, as the arbitrage was open for August-loading cargoes amid sharp price gains in the Asian isomer-MX and paraxylene markets, sources said Tuesday.
An Asian end-user said he booked around 10,000 mt for late September-October arrival from the US.
Market sources added that traders were also shipping cargoes over to Asia, but exact volumes were not disclosed.
The freight for 10,000 mt of liquid chemicals, such as MX, was estimated by market participants to be $48-$55/mt for the voyage from the US to Northeast Asia.
The gap between Asian CFR Taiwan September-October delivery prices and prompt loading US Gulf cargoes was $42.30/mt on average in July, but has widened so far in August to an average of $77.90/mt, according to S&P Global Platts data. The spread was last assessed Monday at $115.90/mt, with the prompt loading FOB US Gulf price at $842.10/mt and CFR Taiwan October arrival at $958/mt, the data showed.
The CFR Taiwan isomer-MX marker hit $960/mt on Monday, the highest level in more than three years, Platts data showed. It was last higher at $999/mt on October 9, 2014.
MX prices are firm due to fast rising downstream paraxylene prices -- hitting a more-than three-year high of $1,217.67/mt CFR Taiwan/China on Monday -- and tight supply of MX amid plant turnarounds and shutdowns in Asia, coupled with strong demand for PX production due to unusually wide margins.
