Tight supply on plant maintenance, lower
operations, closed arbitrageSouth Korea's Jan SM imports are up 54.3%



Asian spot styrene monomer price rose on Feb. 15, while
the Chinese domestic prices were up by Yuan 20, at Yuan 9,085/mt-Yuan 9,090/mt
exp-tank. This equates to $1,239.24/mt- $1,245.35/mt if you consider
import-parity. Although domestic Chinese SM prices were
supported in part by strong upstream values, there is still a lot of supply and
little demand. With a contango market
structure, the winter month spread between February-March widened by Yuan 5/mt
to Yuan 40/mt. The international market
remains tight because of lower local operation rates and multiple maintenances
in Taiwan, the Middle East, and closed US-Asia Arbitrage lanes. Any March arrival received a bid of $1,240-$1,245/mt
CFRZJG/JY. The offer was $1,250/mt-$1,270/mt. Traders stated that the FOB China export price...