PX ACP sees no settlement on wide buy-sell gap

01 August 2008 08:11  [Source: ICIS news]

SINGAPORE (ICIS news)--The Asian contract price (ACP) for August paraxylene (PX) has seen no settlement despite the deadline having passed on Thursday, and it would likely remain a stalemate for now, said buyers and sellers.

"I think basically, the PX suppliers read the market wrongly," said a leading South Korean trader, referring to the nominations of $1,770-1,790/tonne CFR (cost and freight) Asia for the August ACP.

The procurement manager of a major Taiwanese end-user said, "How can we have a settlement? PX suppliers are asking for $1,550/tonne, $1,560/tonne and $1,600/tonne and spot PX is now only $1,400/tonne!"

Due to massive purified terephthalic acid (PTA) shutdowns and falls in crude oil and aromatics prices, spot PX had fallen to $1,400/tonne CFR Taiwan, shedding more than $300/tonne in less than one month.

"With demand so weak, sellers now have problems disposing off the PX, so the nominations were unrealistic and buyers now would not pay above $1,400/tonne; there’s no easy solution," said another end-user in Taiwan, who confirmed that negotiations were still ongoing.

The ACP is usually settled at the end of every month. For July, it was $1,625/tonne CFR Asia.

For more on PX, PTA visit ICIS chemical intelligence 
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By: Salmon Aidan Lee
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