Asian benzene prices rose by five dollars day on day to US$1076.50/mt FOB Korea on July 3, on the back of short-covering activity amid rising crude oil prices, as per Platts. "The market is being driven higher because Chinese traders are covering their shorts," a South Korean trader said, I'm guessing that about 30,000 mt of benzene has to be covered back." August ICE Brent crude futures rose by US$1.49/barrel day on day to US$97.81/bbl at 4:30 pm Singapore time. In the US, benzene was unchanged July 2 at US$1360/mt FOB USG, and in Europe, benzene was assessed at US$1190/mt CIF ARA.
Price of downstream derivatives has also rebounded.
Asian paraxylene was assessed at US$1298.50/mt CFR Taiwan/China July 3, spiking US$27/mt from July 2, driven by bullish downstream purified terephthalic acid. The CFR China PTA marker rose US$12/mt day on day July 3 to US$983/mt, tracking bullish PTA futures. Asian styrene monomer prices were pushed up July 3 by bullish sentiment, with firm demand seen in China amid cautious selling. FOB Korea price for H2-August climbed by nine dollars to US$1360/mt. There was some continuing tightness on the supply side, as Taiwan's Formosa Chemicals & Fiber Corp. plans to restart its 250,000 tpa No. 1 SM plant at Mailiao next week, only when Formosa Petrochemical's No. 3 naphtha-fed steam cracker is restarted, restoring the SM plant's feedstock supply. This is scheduled for July 10.
US styrene price was flat July 2 at US$1347/mt FOB USG. In Europe, the August styrene price was assessed at US$1285/mt FOB Rdam.
04-Jul-12 
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