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Benzene consumption is expected to slow in the face of a downstream outage | Quiet benzene market amid upstream volatility

Jul 08, 2022

- Benzene consumption is expected to slow in the face of
a downstream outage- Quiet benzene market amid
upstream volatility





Spot European benzene prices dropped on
July 7th, as buyer's interest was expected to slow after the declaration of
force majeure at Maasvlakte, a Dutch styrene monomer manufacturing facility on
July 4. Covestro, the joint-owner, confirmed
that Commodity Insights was unavailable on July 6. The annual
POSM styrene production capacity is 680,000 mt. According to
one source, the outage would result in a minimum of 40,000 mt less monthly
benzene demand at POSM. The annual styrene nameplate capacity of 680,000 mt is
unknown. On July 7, benzene was sold at $1,460-1,500/mt
CIF-ARA. However, the market was volatile and players were withdrawing from the
market to avoid disruptions.