Asian SM prices struck 4-year high up on firm China need, tight supplyPosted by Foley Santos on January 13th, 2021 Asian styrene monomer rates struck a four-year high Tuesday on the back of solid need as well as limited prompt supply in China, Platts data showed.Costs increased .50/ mt day on the day Tuesday to ,575.50/ mt FOB Korea as well as by /mt to ,597/ mt CFR China. The last time the FOB Korea pen was greater was July 29, 2008, at ,577.50/ mt, and also the CFR China pen a day earlier on July 28, 2008, at ,608.75/ mt. The rise is due to a scarcity of timely freights in China and across Northeast Asia. The inventory degree of SM in the eastern of China was recently reported at 37,400 mt, up a marginal 1,500 mt from a three-year reduced the week in the past. The supply crunch comes in the middle of heavy steam biscuit turnarounds in China, which have reduced feedstock benzene supply, and also SM plant turnarounds and also shutdowns in China as well as somewhere else. chelating agent in food -October is likewise the peak period for downstream expanding polystyrene production in China and also South Korea. The supply crunch pushed residential Chinese SM costs up Yuan 550/mt day on day to an eight-year high of Yuan 13,850/ mt Tuesday, or about ,850/ mt on an import parity basis, according to Platts data. The last time the cost was greater was November 5, 2004, at Yuan 14,550/ mt. It is uncertain when the crunch will reduce as there are extra turn-arounds set up in China, Malaysia, as well as Taiwan towards the end of the year. Taiwan Styrene Monomer Firm plans to shut its 140,000 mt/year No. 2 SM plant for upkeep October 20 for three to 4 weeks, while Taiwan's Grand Pacific Petrochemical Corp. prepares to shut its largest SM plant at Tashe, the 240,000 mt/year No. 3, for a month of upkeep in December. In China, Jiangsu Leasty Chemical intends to close its 400,000 mt/year SM plant for 15 days' maintenance from November 1, while Changzhou New Solar Chemical shut its 250,000 mt/year SM plant at Changzhou, Jiangsu province, October 8 for concerning a month of scheduled maintenance. In Malaysia, Idemitsu SM (Malaysia), a device of Japan's Idemitsu Kosan, prepares to close its 240,000 mt/year plant in Pasir Gudang for turn-around over late November to very early January. Nevertheless, resources kept in mind these turn-arounds were all set up well beforehand and also market participants would likely have actually made prep work. Like it? Share it! More by this author |