US Sept OX fully settled at 56 cents/lb, down on lower MX pricing

NEW YORK (ICIS)–The September contract price for US orthoxylene (OX) has been fully settled at 56 cents/lb ($1,235/tonne) free on board (FOB), 4 cents/lb down from the August price on the back of declining US mixed xylenes (MX) spot prices, market sources confirmed on Monday.

OX comes out of the refining process with MX and is typically affected by its price movement, as well as the movement of toluene and benzene that also come out of the gasoline stream.

MX spot prices were largely soft during August on the back of weak demand and alongside declining energy futures. In addition, the MX contract price for September settled down at $3.50/gal, a 30 cents/gal decrease from August, as assessed by ICIS.

Demand for OX could see some slowdown in the US autumn as two downstream phthalic anhydride (PA) producers will be going into turnaround in September and October.

Koppers will have its turnaround in mid-September, and Stepan will have its turnaround in October.

OX is primarily used to make PA, a key intermediate in the production of plasticizers which go into polymers like flexible polyvinyl chloride (PVC).

Major US OX producers include ExxonMobil Chemical and Flint Hills Resources.