- Participants
watching from the sidelines during Ramadan-
The firm naphtha prices continue support the selling indications



Participants
in the Asian ethylene market were absent March 8 due to expectations that
downstream demand will be lower during Ramadan holidays. Market
participants anticipate that downstream demand will weaken with lower operating
rates. "There are already production reductions for ethylene
downstream products like styrene monomer."This means that there is
less demand for ethylene," said a buyer from Northeast Asia. Volatile
movements have led to high production cost and weaker margins for ethylene
manufacturers. "The naphtha price has been rising over the past few
days, my margins have become lower and it is still difficult to break
even," said a Northeast Asian producer. The benchmark C+F Japan
Naphtha price was $29.25/mt at $712.5/mt at Asian close on March 8th. The
ethylene-naphtha...