Europe benzene – Europe spot benzene drops below $1,000/tonne amid global losses - Arhive

LONDON (ICIS)–Lower global pricing has seen Europe benzene spot numbers start to fall as February draws to a close, sources said on Wednesday.Europe  benzene

The US benzene market saw some downward movement last week, with ongoing outages in the derivative styrene market limiting benzene consumption.Europe  benzene

Similarly, Asian spot numbers have drifted lower amid weaker Chinese demand and more sellers for March emerging.

This has impacted European benzene spot numbers. February was still trading above $1,080/tonne early last week, but the market gradually moved lower and a deal was done at $1,025/tonne on Friday 17 February. March was slightly backwardated, trading several times at $1,015/tonne and $1,020/tonne.

The downward momentum continued this week, with February dropping below $1,000/tonne. Deals have been done this week at $995/tonne and $985/tonne.

Bids for February were at $975/tonne on Wednesday while offers were at $995/tonne. March was valued flat with February, with offers for the first half of the month slightly firmer at $1,000/tonne. The market continued to drop in the afternoon with a deal for February done at $970/tonne.Europe  benzene

However, with benzene spot levels still at a spread of around $500/tonne over naphtha, the fundamentals of the market remain healthy overall.

Some European players expect to see the market stay firm in March. With one European styrene unit back up next month and various cracker outages poised to limit benzene output, the European market could see a considerable deficit of benzene supply.

(update adds additional market commntary in paragraph six)