Third Sept Europe barge styrene settles down €30

02 September 2008 19:37  [Source: ICIS news]

LONDON (ICIS news)--A third September European barge styrene contract has been settled down €30/tonne ($44/tonne), in line with settlements made earlier in the week, the contract partners confirmed on Tuesday.

“We settled at €1,230/tonne, which is €30/tonne lower,” a source at the participating the consumer said. “We maintained the same reduction as our colleagues.”

Monthly styrene barge contracts are settled on an FD (free delivered) NWE (northwest Europe) basis.

A source at the producer partner confirmed the settlement and said that the decrease had been arrived at as a result of a number of factors, including spot pricing, energy values, supply and demand and exchange-rate values.

Earlier in the day, a major producer and consumer had confirmed the settlement of their September business at €1,250/tonne FD NWE, also down €30/tonne from August and at parity with a settlement made on Monday, down €36/tonne.

August contracts had been settled at €1,260/tonne, €1,280/tonne and €1,286/tonne FD NWE.

European styrene buyers had been disappointed by a late-August surge in benzene and styrene spot prices, having hoped to see some margin restored by way of a significant decrease, given mid-month spot trades in the mid-$1,500s/tonne FOB (free on board) Rotterdam. 

With spot trades as high as $1,690/tonne FOB Rotterdam on Thursday, however, this was not to be. 

Three barge styrene contracts are usually settled publicly, followed by a truck or FCA (free carrier) CRP (contract reference price), often in line with movements in upstream benzene, which settled down €29/tonne for September.

($1 = €0.68)

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By: Peter Salisbury
+44 20 8652 3214

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