Europe November benzene confirmed at €1,032/tonne

LONDON (ICIS)–The European benzene contract price for November has been confirmed at €1,032/tonne, up €34/tonne from the previous month, as the initial settlement received further support on Thursday.

The settlement was made at a US dollar concept of $1,338/tonne FOB (free on board) NWE (northwest Europe) and converted to the euro price at the agreed exchange rate of €1:$1.2965.

Despite some softening among key derivative markets, European benzene prices remain firm on strong fundamentals stemming from tighter availability of feedstock pyrolisis gasoline (pygas).

Several downstream sources in the polyamide market had been braced for an increase of approximately €30/tonne, and said that further increases for benzene would prove “a disaster.”

Strong benzene prices in both Asia and the US, where the November contract was settled at a record high of $4.90/gal, also supported the current bullishness.

There was no news regarding the November styrene barge contract yet, and one key buyer expected the process to be delayed by holidays until early next week.