Last week, dragged down by the decline in the US dollar, the transaction prices of benzene in East China fell sharply. Meanwhile, the losses of downstream styrene and phenol-ketone plants widened, leading to reduced loads at some plants and weakened demand, which in turn reduced the support for pure benzene prices in Shandong. With consecutive reductions in transaction volumes, local refineries significantly lowered their quotes, closing the arbitrage window between the north and the south.
This week, the arrival of tankers at ports remains high. Coupled with the ongoing expectations of shutdowns and reduced loads at some downstream plants, as well as improved geopolitical tensions and减弱 support from crude oil, pure benzene is expected to have further room for decline. Attention should be paid to changes in downstream capacity and crude oil trends.
