UpdateEurope Nov truck styrene falls €452/t

06 November 2008 12:42  [Source: ICIS news]

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LONDON (ICIS news)--Europe November truck styrene “customer reference price” (CRP) contracts have been settled down €452/tonne ($587/tonne) or 39% from October, a source at a major producer and consumer said on Thursday.

“We have settled at €710/tonne FCA [free carrier] Rotterdam with five consumers,” the producer source said. October had been settled at €1,162/tonne FCA Rotterdam.

A consumer confirmed that it had settled its November business at this level.

“We would have liked to see it more like €700/tonne, but it is a fair reflection of the market,” he said.

The truck CRP has traditionally followed the settlement of barge styrene contracts, with a minimum of three consumers confirming the number. Final confirmation was pending.

Three November barge styrene contracts were finalised on Tuesday and Wednesday at €580/tonne FD NWE (northwest Europe), €700/tonne FD NWE and €710/tonne FD (free delivered) NWE.

The settlements marked respective decreases of €530/tonne, €462/tonne and €456/tonne. Market participants believed that the largest decrease was the greatest month-on-month contract decrease ever seen in the petrochemical sector.

Upstream benzene settled at €316/tonne FOB (free on board) NWE, down €481/tonne, in November, and spot trading levels were seen as key to the drops.

Spot values had fallen 50% plus to five-year lows in October as energy complex values collapsed and demand faltered on fears over the global economy. Styrene values had lifted slightly by Wednesday, with a trade reported at $745/tonne FOB Rotterdam.

($1 = €0.77)

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By: Peter Salisbury
+44 20 8652 3214

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