South Korea's paraxylene exports surged 36.1% month on month to 432,039 mt in August due to the startup of new PX plants in July and increasing demand from China.
SK Innovation's 1.3 million mt/year PX plant in Incheon began commercial operations July 17 and Samsung Total's 1 million mt/year PX plant in Daesan July 10, Platts reported earlier.
The plants can collectively supply 192,000 mt/month of PX when run at full capacity.
South Korea's PX exports to China surged 40.72% month on month to 392,758 mt in August as downstream purified terephthalic acid production margins improved.
The average PTA/PX production margin in August was estimated at minus $59.84/mt on a CFR China basis; while still negative, it improved from minus $107.62/mt in July.
PX exports to Taiwan rose 19.61% month on month to 34,521 mt in August amid a reduction in domestic output due to turnarounds at Taiwanese PX producers including FCFC and CPC.
South Korea's PX exports to third major buyer Japan fell 50.22% over the same period to 4,760 mt in August.
