Singapore (Platts)--4Oct2011/657 am EDT/1057 GMT
China's ongoing National Day holidays, falling crude and the worsening fiscal woes in the US and Europe exerted downward pressure on Asian aromatics prices, which tumbled around 2% Tuesday morning.
Asian paraxylene was pegged at $1,576.50/mt CFR Taiwan/China on Tuesday morning, down $22.50/mt or 1.4%, from Monday's close.
An offer for an any November arrival parcel was posted at $1,590/mt CFR Taiwan/China, down $9/mt from Monday's closing price. But with no buyers to fix a floor price, the offer further retreated to $1,585/mt CFR.
"There's no response to the offer and I can see many sellers in the market now," said a market participant.
With China closed for its National Day holiday this week, downstream purified terephthalic acid makers were not available to pick up spot PX. "Only Chinese end-users can buy the cargoes at low prices now, but all of them are on holiday," said a Singapore-based trader.
PX feedstock isomer-grade mixed xylenes was also south-bound early Tuesday morning with sellers seeking to offload their November cargoes amid a dearth of buyers.
Platts pegged isomer-MX FOB Korea and CFR Taiwan benchmarks at a two-and-a-half-month low of $1,246.50/mt and $1,261.50/mt Tuesday morning, respectively, down by $16/mt from Monday's close.
The last time Platts assessed isomer-MX lower on July 15,2011, at $1233.50/mt FOB Korea and $1,247.50/mt CFR Taiwan.
Early Tuesday, at least two traders were offering November cargoes initially at $1,285/mt CFR Taiwan. The offers were eventually reduced to $1,260/mt CFR Taiwan but no buyers were interested.
"The fundamentals for [isomer-MX] were unstable and the PX market looks weak," said a South Korean trader. The PX-MX spread was at a five-week-low of $311.50/mt Monday. Producers typically need a spread of $230/mt between the xylenes to break even.
Meanwhile, Asian toluene was pegged at $1,029/mt FOB Korea, down $19/mt, or 1.8%, from Monday. This was attributed to bearish factors such as the weak upstream energy complex and a bleak economic outlook in the West.
The Chinese National Day holiday was also blamed for the relative lull in the market, according to industry participants, who added that a clearer view could be ascertained after that. Another market watcher said that traders were unable to liquidate their positions because of the Chinese holiday.
Nonetheless, bids and offers for toluene were placed at $1,035-1,060/mt FOB Korea for any November cargoes Tuesday morning, and $990-1,010/mt FOB Korea for any December cargoes. These bids were lower than off-screen postings Monday, with the best November bid at $1,055/mt FOB Korea, and the December bid-offer range at $1,010-1,015/mt FOB Korea. Deals were heard done at $1,013/mt FOB Korea for December.
Asian benzene prices fell below $1,000/mt FOB Korea mark for the first time in 2011 Tuesday morning, and morning pegs were down $22.5/mt compared with Monday's assessment of $1,009/mt FOB Korea. The last time Platts prices were assessed below $1,000/mt was December 20, 2010.
December bids were reported at $971/mt FOB Korea, Tuesday morning against offers at $979/mt FOB Korea, during a busy morning.
November bids were reported at $985/mt FOB Korea, with November to December time spreads bid at $10/mt versus offers at $20/mt, implying a continued backwardation.
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