Styrene Asia

摘要

Asian styrene monomer fell $37/mt week on week to $1,479/mt FOB Korea and $1,505/mt CFR China Friday, as demand in China remained low and sentiment bearish. Prices tumbled $21/mt day on day for both benchmarks. Friday’s assessed prices were the lowest since late September 2012, Platts data showed. A similar downtrend was seen in other aromatics, most importantly for benzene, which fell $18.50/mt day on day and $40.50/mt week on week to $1,228/mt FOB Korea. Sentiment and demand in China remained low this week, producers, traders and end-users confirmed, despite a decrease in inventory levels of SM. Market sources said inventory held by traders in East China was down about 10,000 mt to around 150,000 mt this week, while total inventory held by both end-users and traders was estimated to be around 250,000 mt, down about 10,000 mt from previous week as well.