Europe November OX, PX contract price talks to start next week

LONDON (ICIS)–European November paraxylene (PX) and orthoxylene (OX) contract price talks are only expected to get underway in earnest next week, sources said on Friday.

Contract talks for OX are only in the very early stages, with the likely direction not yet clear.

Supply in the OX sector remains long domestically and on imports, amid stable demand.

For PX, November contract price talks are really only expected to get serious once an agreement is reached in Asia for the November PX contract price.

Bids and nominations for the Asia contract price are at some distance apart, with some agreement expected in the next few days.

The Europe OX October contract price was agreed at €720/tonne, €20/tonne down from the September range.

The Europe PX contract price for October was agreed at €745/tonne, €5-15/tonne up from the previous month.

Prices are agreed on a free delivered (FD) northwest Europe (NWE) basis.