Nippon Oil Corporation (NOC), which sources benzene to Asahi Kasei, BASF and Mitsui Chemicals through Asian Contract Price (ACP) saw a drop in September benzene ACP relative to its August benzene ACP. As compared to NOC's August benzene ACP which stood at US$1,285/mt, the September benzene ACP dropped US$100/mt and steadied at US$1,185/mt on a CFR basis.
The benzene-naphtha spread was seen at US$173.50/mt after NOC settled its naphtha prices on a CFR Japan basis at US$1011.50/mt on Friday. Despite the open arbitrage from Asia to US Gulf providing some backing, the drop in the ACP can be due to the weaker spot prices for benzene in Asia and Western crude benchmarks.
01-Sep-08 
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