Low Europe PX bids fail to attract seller interest

17 March 2008 17:50  [Source: ICIS news]

LONDON (ICIS news)--Buyers in the European paraxylene (PX) market faced a lack of offers on Monday with sellers saying their bids were unrealistic due to high crude values.

PX bids were currently hovering around $1,160/tonne (€742/tonne) FOB (free on board) Rotterdam.

Although offers were not prevalent, notional assessments were pegged at around $1,200/tonne FOB Rdam, in stark contrast to buyers’ price ideas.

One seller said those in the market to buy would find it extremely difficult to obtain volumes if they didn’t see their bids soar by at least $30/tonne, in line with recent upstream movement.

Another supported this, saying that a lot of material had left Europe for Asia since the start of the year and buying levels would need to increase in order for production to increase within Europe.

Buyers, however, deemed the market quiet and saw no need to strengthen their bids at present.

Following a run of consecutive feedstock crude highs last week, sellers argued that buyers would have to pay higher prices in order to acquire material.

On Monday, ICE Brent futures dropped back to $105.05/bbl, but this had not affected PX sellers’ plans to target higher prices for their product.

($1 = €0.64)

For more on PX visit ICIS chemical intelligence

By: Fiona Bond
+44 20 8652 3214

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