Styrindo Mono Indonesia is considering run cuts at its two styrene monomer plants in Merak due to the recent price increase in feedstock benzene, a source close to the company said Monday.
The 100,000 mt/year No. 1 and 240,000 mt/year No. 2 plants are currently running at full capacity.
The company might also bring forward a scheduled turnaround at the larger plant from November if margins erode further, the source said, but added it would not take place in August and a final decision had not yet been made. The turnaround is expected to last one to two weeks.
SMI typically offers two to three spot cargoes of 3,000 mt each in a month and has sold out all spot for July loading.
The spread between SM and its main feedstock benzene was last Friday at $191/mt, well below the $250/mt that producers typically seek for profitable production. SM was last assessed at $1,611/mt FOB Korea and benzene at $1,420/mt FOB Korea.
The SM-benzene spread fell from a year-to-date high of $388.50/mt on March 18 to a one and a half year low of $172/mt on June 25, Platts data showed.
