US-Iran tensions prompt India to buy more Southeast Asian toluene

摘要

Over the past year,the South Asian nation has increased its consumption of the aromatic each month compared to 2018.As a result,the India toluene physical market rose from an average of $500/mt range throughout 2019 to $785/mt on Jan.3.,which was the highest since Nov.2 2018.Last Nov.,the country took in 40.9K mt of toluene,which was the highest monthly import volume in nine months.This figure was also 18.8% higher compared to Oct.and 16.6% higher compared to Nov.2018.India imported more toluene from Thailand as its 3Q import volume 34.9K mt was 22.6% higher compared to 2Q and 51.6% higher compared to 1Q.The 5.6K mt import volume from Malaysia during 3Q was 18.7% higher compared to 2Q and 57% higher compared to 1Q.While India took in 122K mt from Oman between Jan.and Nov.,the number was smaller compared to East Asian import volumes of 295K mt during the same period.