Europe December toluene confirmed at $772-785/tonne

03 December 2009 16:48  [Source: ICIS news]

LONDON (ICIS news)--December European toluene contracts have been confirmed at $772-785/tonne (€510-518/tonne), up $2-10/tonne from November, as the initial settlement received further support from players on Thursday.

One supplier confirmed it had settled contracts at $772/tonne on 1 December, while a major buyer said that it had settled for December between a range of $772-777/tonne.

“Demand has been very slow in November, which was the main theme of the discussions,” said the buyer involved in the initial settlement.

“It was difficult to gauge where the market is now, because there were very few deals done.”

The buyer added: “Supply and demand have remained at similar levels throughout the month, so it made sense for the price to stay at a stable level.”

On Thursday, another seller said that it had concluded December contracts within a range of $775-785/tonne.

“Demand is there, but with no spot activity the market is difficult to judge,” said the seller, adding that it felt the market was balanced and that it had not seen any defaults on its supply.

Other sources speculated on the dearth of spot activity in the market, and felt that it could be due to a lack of available material or the closing of the arbitrage window between regions.

Another buyer said that it had seen some suppliers look for prices as high as $790/tonne, but confirmed that it had settled December contracts below $780/tonne.

The buyer added that the market could see some upward movement based on a pull from Asia, but felt that this could be compensated for by lower crude numbers.

The settlements were agreed on a free on board (FOB) northwest Europe (NWE) basis.

($1 = €0.66)

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By: Truong Mellor
+44 208 652 3214

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