Asian styrene monomer prices rose US$8/mt from Wednesday's assessment, with Thursday morning pegs assessed at US$1808.50/mt FOB Korea and US$1837.50/mt CFR China amid market talk that Saudi Petrochemical Co. (Sadaf), has shut its 580,000 m tpa No. 2 SM plant in Al-Jubail due to a pipeline leak, as per Platts.
Sadaf is a 50:50 joint venture between Saudi Basic Industries Corp. and Shell Chemicals Arabia.
Sources said Sadaf shut the No. 2 plant Saturday after a pipeline leak, and the plant could be down for about two weeks. The producer had recently sold some of its feedstock benzene back into the market. Market observers said a shutdown at Sadaf might have caused a bigger price jump than US$8/mt, if not for the market already being near an all-time high. The morning peg was based on an August-loading negotiation range of US$1855-1865/mt CFR China for Asian origin cargoes, excluding Middle East and Taiwan. Asian SM prices hit a record high of US$1804.50/mt FOB Korea and US$1833.50/mt CFR China Monday, since Platts started assessments on January 5, 2004. SM was last assessed at US$1800.50/mt FOB Korea and US$1829.50/mt CFR China Wednesday, flat day on day.
26-Jul-13 
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