EVENING SNAPSHOT - Europe Markets Summary

LONDON (ICIS news)--Here is Friday’s end-of-day European oil and chemical market summary from ICIS pricing.

CRUDE: February WTI: $78.45/bbl, down $0.94/bbl. March BRENT: $77.60/bbl, down $0.97/bbl

A firmer US dollar added further downward pressure to prices, which continued to tumble as milder weather spread across the northern hemisphere.

NAPHTHA: Open-spec spot cargoes were assessed in a $720-722/tonne CIF (cost, insurance and freight) NWE (northwest Europe) range, up $3/tonne CIF NWE on the buy side of the range set earlier in the day. January swaps were pegged at $710-711/tonne CIF NWE. One deal for 12,500 tonnes was reported at $721/tonne CFR (cost and freight) Rotterdam for 25-29 January delivery.

BENZENE: January benzene closed at $1,090-1,100/tonne CIF ARA (Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Antwerp), down $10/tonne from this morning’s high side due to falling energy levels. A February deal was confirmed at $1,086/tonne from trade to industry. February closed at $1,080-1,090/tonne, keeping the market in a backwardation of $10/tonne.

STYRENE: The styrene market was thin and pegged at $1,270-1,285/tonne FOB (free on board) Rotterdam for January, slightly up from this morning. Players disagreed over where February should be compared with January. As a result, the market was pegged flat for both months.

TOLUENE: Bids and offers in the toluene market were unchanged from this morning at $880-900/tonne FOB Rotterdam.

MTBE: The factor rose further in the afternoon with six trades seen. Two were at $813/tonne FOB AR (Amsterdam, Rotterdam), two more were at $814/tonne FOB AR and one was at $823/tonne FOB AR, all for 20-24 January delivery. The sixth trade was at $808/tonne FOB AR for 23-27 January delivery. Gasoline traded at $697-706/tonne FOB AR, putting the factor against cash barges at 1.16. Sources said that although plenty of material was around, most of it was being held to take advantage of the contango and could only be bought if the price was high enough.

XYLENES: The paraxylene market was kept unchanged at $1,030-1,050/tonne FOB Rotterdam.

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