Europe Dec styrene barge contract up by €35/t at €995/tonne

LONDON (ICIS)–The European styrene barge contract for December has settled at €995/tonne, up €35/tonne from the previous month’s settlement, sources said on Tuesday.

The contract price was agreed on a free on board (FOB) Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA) basis.

Some upward movement had been anticipated for this month, with European spot levels gradually creeping up over the course of November (see graph). A weaker euro combined with firmer raw material costs for December also supported the increase.

The December ethylene contract saw an increase of €22.50/tonne, while the monthly contract settlement for benzene was agreed yesterday at €604/tonne, up €22/tonne from the previous month.

With the European market now comfortably priced higher than Asia, where styrene spot levels remain below $900/tonne on a FOB Korea basis (see graph below), there was a concern among some players that this will pull additional US volumes towards Europe in the coming weeks. This could have a negative impact on the supply/demand balance and weigh down on pricing by January 2016, one industry source added.