US March benzene falls 14 cents/gal on late drop in spot market

HOUSTON (ICIS)–The March US benzene contract settled at $4.95/gal ($1,481/tonne) on Friday, sources said.

The March settlement was down by 14 cents/gal from the February contract price of $5.09/gal FOB, on the back of weaker spot prices late this week.

The March benzene settlement was lower than trade participants had expected earlier in the week.

Trade sources had said they expected the March benzene contract to settle within a range of $5.00-5.10/gal, which was on either side of the February benzene contract price of $5.09/gal FOB.

The benzene contract price, which typically settles on the last day of the month, will usually follow direction from the spot market.

US benzene spot prices were volatile throughout February.

Prompt US benzene spot bid/offer levels fell below $5.00/gal briefly in early February, but had rebounded later in the month.

By Friday of this week though, current benzene spot prices had fallen below $5.00/gal again to $4.90-4.95/gal FOB.