European July SAN contracts fall on softening styrene

06 July 2010 23:59  [Source: ICIS news]

LONDON (ICIS news)--European styrene acrylonitrile (SAN) contract prices for July settled at a €30-50/tonne ($38-63/tonne) decline on last month’s figures thanks to a sharp fall in upstream styrene numbers, sources said on Tuesday.

“Passing through at a rollover would have been a difficult achievement, despite a balanced market,” stated one producer.

Compounding grade SAN was now priced at €1,700-1,710/tonne FD (free delivered) NWE (northwest Europe), according to ICIS.

There was some disparity between sources over just how much SAN prices fell, however, with manufacturers offered decreases of around €30/tonne, while customers generally quoted reductions of between €30-60/tonne.

Most observers did agree that demand was still very healthy, though one customer stated that buying interest was beginning to slip in the lead up to the holiday season.

“Buyers are also expecting prices to fall further in Q3 and so are hanging back from the market,” the customer added.

($1 = €0.80)

For more on SAN visit ICIS chemical intelligence 
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By: Amandeep Parmar
+44 208 652 3214

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