UpdateSouth Korea’s S-Oil seeks $125/tonne hike for October PX ACP

23 September 2011 08:11  [Source: ICIS news]

(Adds updates, paragraphs 5-7)

SINGAPORE (ICIS)--South Korea’s S-Oil is proposing a $125/tonne (€93/tonne) hike in its October paraxylene (PX) Asian Contract Price (ACP), a company source said on Friday.

S-Oil’s nomination for its October PX ACP stands at $1,780/tonne CFR Asia. The September PX ACP was settled at $1,655/tonne CFR (cost & freight) Asia.

Japan’s JX Nippon Oil & Energy and Idemitsu Kosan nominated their October contract prices on 22 September at $1,760/tonne CFR Asia and $1,780/tonne CFR Asia, respectively.

US-based petrochemical giant ExxonMobil earlier proposed its PX ACP for October at $1,800/tonne CFR Asia.

Consumers are sceptical about the workability of such prices because of the recent fall in PX spot prices. Spot PX prices were assessed at $1,685-1,695/tonne CFR Taiwan and/or China Main Port (CMP) on 22 September, a $25/tonne drop from the previous day, ICIS data showed.

“The macroeconomic decline has made players jittery about the outlook of PX,” said an end-user.

“The Dow Jones Index has fallen 391.01 points [a 3.51% drop], people are scared to buy,” the end-user added.

The October PX ACP will be settled on 30 September.

($1 = €0.74)

For more on paraxylene, visit ICIS chemical intelligence

By: Loh Bowei

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