Domestic price of toluene in East China rebounded Tuesday morning with a trade seen done at Yuan 10,000/mt, or $1,316.93/mt on an import parity basis, amid steady demand and delay in cargo arrivals from South Korea, traders said.
The last time the price was seen at this level was on October 18, when it was at Yuan 10,050/mt. The all-time high for East China toluene was reached on October 15 at Yuan 10,125/mt price, Platts data showed.
Prices had reached the all time high amid low inventory and steady demand over October 10-18. But then started to soften, shedding about Yuan 570/mt over October 18-24, amid cargo arrivals and expectations of further incoming volumes. Traders expected stocks in East China to rise to 50,000 mt by end October, with an estimated 24,000 mt arriving over October 18-24.
But inventory levels last Thursday showed 30,000 mt was in stock, unchanged week on week, which led to prices inching up again.
Platts publishes East China toluene inventory levels every Friday, but it was published on Thursday last week due to a public holiday in Singapore on Friday.
"I heard [one China trader] is short. And South Korean cargoes have been delayed due to barge congestion at Daesan," said a trader based in China.
The trader said his cargo, which was due to load at the end of October from Daesan in South Korea, will now be loaded early November.
"Looking at the line-up, almost all vessels [in Daesan have been] delayed by a week," said a trader.
As a result, there are few CFR China cargoes available, said a broker. Buying interest is expected to be around $1,255-1,260/mt CFR East China Tuesday, for a November-loading toluene cargo, he added. On Monday, the CFR China L/C 90 days marker was assessed at $1,244/mt, up $9/mt from last Thursday.
