US March cumene falls 1 cent/lb on lower benzene

Larry Terry

28-Mar-2014

US March cumene falls 1 cent/lb on lower benzeneHOUSTON (ICIS)–The US March cumene contract has settled lower by 1 cent/lb ($22/tonne), in line with the March benzene decrease, sources confirmed on Friday.

The March benzene contract previously fell by 14 cents/gal, settling at $4.95/gal from $5.09/gal in February.

That decrease brought the March cumene price to a new range of 70-71 cents/lb, as assessed by ICIS.

April benzene also is expected weaker on recently softer spot prices for the material.

Slack demand for derivative phenol continues to keep supply of cumene plentiful as phenol production rates stay mostly in the range of 60-70%, sources confirmed, although a couple of producers have been running nearer full rates to supply producers either off line for scheduled maintenance or planning spring turnarounds.

Meanwhile, domestic demand for phenol has been said to be little changed from a year ago, even as most sources have little or no hope that the phenol export market to Asia will return.

Downstream in housing, which uses phenolic resins, signals continue to be somewhat mixed.

In spite of some recent positive housing numbers, US sales of new single-family homes fell by 3.3% in February from January, the Commerce Department said this week.

Last month’s selling pace also was 1.1% below activity seen in February 2013. The recent decline partly offset a sharp 9.6% gain recorded in January, which had ended two months of declines, including a 7% drop in December.

Major US cumene producers include Citgo, Flint Hills Resources, Axiall, Marathon, Philadelphia Energy Solutions and Shell Chemical.

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