Asian benzene prices fell $15/mt day-on-day Monday to $1,117/mt FOB Korea as volatile crude futures and stock markets dampened sentiment.
Market participants were nominating H1 June for delivery as inquiries picked up for ships to carry benzene to the US Gulf. One inquiry was to lift 5,000-10,000 mt of benzene from Ulsan to the US East Coast over H1 June.
A charterer was looking to fix a ship to take 15,000-20,000 mt from Ulsan to the USG H1 June. There was a third inquiry to transport 3,000-6,000 mt via Ulsan to the USG over H2 June. FOB US Gulf prices for July were assessed at 396 cents/gallon last Friday, or about $1,185/mt. At $1,117/mt, the FOB Korea benchmark was about $68/mt lower than the FOB USG price, while freight costs from Ulsan to Houston stood at about $55/mt for 10,000 mt size cargoes.
The US benzene price for May was assessed at $1,193/mt FOB USG. The European benzene price fell to $1,195/mt CIF ARA, down $30 from Thursday.
This morning in Europe, May benzene was pegged at $1,175/mt to $1,200/mt CIF ARA. June benzene in Europe this morning was pegged at $1,175/mt to $1,180/mt CIF ARA.
Asian toluene prices sank Monday with the FOB Korea marker assessed down $11/mt from last Friday at $1,055.50/mt as feedstock naphtha prices fell $9.13/mt over the same period to $945/mt on a CFR Japan basis. On Friday, the FOB US Gulf toluene was assessed at 379 cents/gallon, or $1,152.16/mt. The FOB USG-FOB Korea spread stood at $85.66/mt Friday, the lowest seen since April 21, when it was $83.62/mt.
Based on the latest FOB Korea assessment, the spread improved to $96.66/mt. The arbitrage remains open for the eighth week in a row. It cracked open on March 25, when the spread reached $56.32/mt. Platts assessed the freight rate from South Korea to USG at $52-57/mt Monday for a 10,000 mt toluene cargo. The European toluene price fell to $1,068/mt FOB Korea.
Asian isomer-grade mixed xylenes were lower Monday at $1,181.50/mt FOB Korea, down $5/mt from last Friday amid weak upstream markets. European xylene prices slumped $68/mt or 5.3% Friday from a week earlier to $1,222/mt FOB Rotterdam on the back of lower global sentiment, tracking similar trends in the US and Asia.
The US mixed xylene price fell to $1,121/mt FOB USG on Friday, down $27 from Thursday on weak demand. Market participants stood on the sidelines Monday as crude dipped on a stronger dollar. Market participants were also tracking Greece's downgraded credit rating amid fears of the eurozone falling further into debt, adding pressure to oil prices.
Asian paraxylene defied falling crude and downstream derivatives to edge $1/mt higher day-on-day Monday to close at $1,517/mt CFR Taiwan/China.
Purified terephthalic acid closed $5/mt lower Monday from last Friday, at $1,200/mt CFR China for Taiwan origin cargoes.
In market news, Idemitsu and ExxonMobil announced their June Asia Contract Price nominations at $1,605/mt CFR and $1,620/mt CFR, respectively. While Idemitsu rolled over its nomination from the May settlement, ExxonMobil increased its proposal by $15/mt, much to end-users' dismay.
"The nominations are ridiculous," a PTA maker said. "This shows how PX producers are indifferent to the current PTA market. They don't seem to understand what's happening to PTA or downstream polyester."
PTA makers have been in the red since prices fell below the $1,225/mt breakeven point based on the $1,605/mt CFR May PX ACP settlement.
The US PX price fell to $1,572.50/mt FOB USG. The European PX price fell to $1,547.50/mt FOB Rdam.
Upstream, the US unleaded waterborne gasoline price climbed nearly 4 cents to 289.26 cents/gal. The assessment was slightly higher than the 5-day moving average. During the past two weeks, the US unleaded gasoline price has fallen more than 63 cents/gal--down nearly 18%. The slight increase in the gasoline price had little impact on blend demand for aromatics, with both toluene and mixed xylene prices too high to be profitably used in gasoline blending.
The WTI Cushing crude oil price climbed more than $1 to $99.46/barrel on Friday. The WTI price, though, remained at a more than $10 discount to the Brent crude price. Crude futures were significantly lower in morning European trading with prices taking a hit from financial considerations including a firmer dollar and falling regional equity markets. At 1035 GMT, July ICE Brent traded $2.99/barrel lower at $109.40/barrel, while July NYMEX crude was down $2.72 at $97.38/barrel.
