US spot styrene sees first drop in three weeks

David Love

10-Mar-2017

HOUSTON (ICIS)–US styrene spot prices dropped on Friday, after holding steady since mid-February, but the market remains tight as three turnarounds are ongoing – two of which have been extended – market participants said on Friday.

The spot has been quiet since ICIS-assessed spot prices on 17 February hit the highest point since prior to the year 2000. The US became the highest-priced region in the world, and even attracted rare imports from Europe and Asia.

One market participant said it did not see any additional spot styrene moving to the US, other than what was already booked.

The tight US market may get some relief sooner than expected. It came to light on Friday that the styrene line at Americas Styrenics’ (AmSty) 950,000 tonne/year St James plant in Louisiana is expected back ahead of schedule in the first-half of April.

The producer in a 16 February news release said that it expected the styrene outage to extend into the second quarter to complete repairs on critical equipment. Market participants believed the plant would be down until at least May.

On 30 January, AmSty announced in a news release that it was extending a regularly scheduled styrene unit turnaround at the facility in Louisiana until mid-March. The turnaround was originally expected to last for 30 days.

CosMar’s 1.1m tonne/year plant in Carville, Louisiana, is running at about half of capacity until sometime this summer. The plant is co-owned by SABIC and Total Petrochemicals.

SABIC declared force majeure on 31 January on the styrene it receives from the joint venture. SABIC informed customers about an equipment failure that would impact the facility’s capability to produce styrene until sometime this summer, the producer confirmed on 31 January.

Additionally, INEOS Styrolution began a turnaround on 1 March at its 450,000 tonne/year Texas City plant in Texas. The turnaround is expected to last for 45 days.

Current ICIS spot prices range from 77.10-79.37 cents/lb ($1,700-1,750/tonne).

On average, the price before the drop was 80.63 cents/lb. The current average is 78.24 cents/lb.

North American styrene producers include Americas Styrenics, INEOS Styrolution, LyondellBasell Chemical, Pemex, Shell Chemicals Canada, Total Petrochemicals and Westlake Styrene.


 

READ MORE

Global News + ICIS Chemical Business (ICB)

See the full picture, with unlimited access to ICIS chemicals news across all markets and regions, plus ICB, the industry-leading magazine for the chemicals industry.

Contact us

Now, more than ever, dynamic insights are key to navigating complex, volatile commodity markets. Access to expert insights on the latest industry developments and tracking market changes are vital in making sustainable business decisions.

Want to learn about how we can work together to bring you actionable insight and support your business decisions?

Need Help?

Need Help?