The margin for Asian paraxylene producers who use isomer-mixed xylenes as feedstock flipped into positive territory Thursday, with PX prices well-supported by a strong downstream polyester market in China.
At the Asian close Thursday, the PX production margin stood at $7.50/mt on a CFR Taiwan basis -- with the Asian paraxylene-isomer MX spread surging $23/mt day on day to $237.50/mt CFR Taiwan Thursday and taking into account an estimated conversion cost of $230/mt. On Wednesday, the margin stood at minus $15.50/mt, with the PX-isomer MX spread finishing at $214.50/mt.
The last time the margin was in positive territory was on September 14, when it finished at a razor-thin $1/mt, according to Platts data.
On Thursday, the PX market jumped $29/mt day on day to $1,579.50/mt CFR Taiwan/China, supported by strong demand from the polyester market in China.
Chinese market participants returned Monday from last week's holidays, with polyester makers' sales/production ratio heard at 150-200% this week and buyers actively rebuilding purified terephthalic acid inventories that were drawn down during the week-long holidays. PX is used to produce PTA, which is in turn used as feedstock for polyester.
By comparison, isomer-MX rose just $6/mt day on day to $1,342/mt CFR Taiwan Thursday.
