arostradeflowreport 6.25.14

BENZENE/PYGAS:

Summary: Benzene prices in the US surged this week as tight supply and short-covering helped to bolster pricing. M1

DDP USG spot values touched as high as 523 cents/gal to close out last week as prices gained nearly 45 cents/gal since

mid-June. Supplies were tight as Citgo had taken down a reformer at its Lake Charles reinfery while ExxonMobil was

heard to have a downed reformer at Beaumont. Sources said that both units should be up by the end of the month

however Chevron Tuesday was reportedly facing a reformer outage at Pascagoula. The company has an estimated

benzene capacity of 601,000 mt/year. Still imports lagged and activity was muted this week with little near-term change

in the trade lanes.

ARRIVED

Formosa Thirteen – carrying roughly 18,000 metric tons of benzene for three different parties, was last seen moored

near Vincent landing by Lake Charles. The vessel was slated to arrive on June 25 after setting off from the Port of Nagoya

on May 1.

EN ROUTE:

The vessel Cavatina, said to be carrying between 15,000-21,000 metric tons of benzene, was last seen entering the

Yucatan Channel between Cuba and Cancun. The vessel was moving north-northwest at 15.5 knots, destined for the Port

of New Orleans with an ETA of June 26. (Last signal seen at 5:58 a.m. on June 25.)

The vessel Nordic Wolverine, said to be carrying 8,000 mt of pygas and destined for Europe/ARA, was last seen headed

south at 14.4 knots just east of the coast of Nicaragua. The vessel, which loaded out of Houston, was slated to arrive in

Cristobal, Panama on June 26. (Last update seen on June 25 at 11:28 a.m.)

AROMATICS TRADE FLOW REPORT June 25, 2014 Vol 1, Issue 6

Copyright © The Petrochemical Standard 2014 | [email protected] |

CONTENT IS PROVIDED “AS IS”. TPS MAKES NO GUARANTEES OR WARRANTIES AS TO THE ACCURACY, COMPLETENESS, TIMELINESS, OR RESULTS TO BE OBTAINED FROM,

ACCESSING AND USING TPS DATA.

The vessel Bow Chain, reportedly fixed with 5,000 metric tons of benzene, was last seen moving west-southwest at 13.6

knots. The vessel, which cast off from ARA, was slated to arrive in New York on July 4, according to VesselTracker. From

New York, the vessel was slate for Houston, according to mulitple shipping sources. (Last update seen at 11:42 a.m. on

June 25.)

TOLUENE, XYLENES & STYRENE:

Summary: Toluene and xylene prices surged as well this week and much like benzene, received support from a snug

market, supply side constraints and stronger blend values. Toluene values rose to as high as 422 cents/gal FOB USG to

close last week and continued to be talked near those levels Wednesday.

Mixed xylene prices were also talked in the low-420’s cents/gal range as blend values for toluene/xylene were estimated

near 437 cents/gal. Paraxylene prices rose in accordance with stronger PX though liquidity was thin with no deals

reported this week.

In styrene, prices rose on stronger feedstock benzene values and arb opportunities were limited this week. Downsteam

PS producers in the US were looking to implement 5-7 cents/lb price hikes on July contracts, sources said.

ARRIVED:

Bow Star – the vessel, carrying approximately 5,700 metric tons of toluene, arrived at the Port of Richmond, California

on June 2 after setting off from Ulsan, Korea.

LOADED/LOADING:

Ioannis I – the vessel, said to be fixed with 10,000 metric tons of paraxylene, was last seen in the North Pacific Ocean

moving west-southwest at 13.5 knots. The vessel cast off from Balboa, Panama and was slated to arrive in the Port of

Mai-Liao on July 2. (Last signal seen at 11:24 a.m. on June 25.)







The Siteam Adventurer – heard to be loaded at the US Gulf (either Houston or Baton Rouge) with 10,000 metric tons of

paraxylene, was last seen moving south at 13 knots just outside of Balboa, Panama. The vessel was expected to arrive at

Ulsan on July 23 before making its way to Taiwan/China, sources said. (Last signal seen at 12:30 p.m. on June 25.)

The vessel UACC Marah, loaded with 10-15,000 metric tons of PX, was last seen moored just off the west coast of

Mexico, moving north-northwest at 13.6 knots. The vessel, which was heard loaded in Freeport, cast off from Balboa,

Panama on June 19 and was slated to arrive at the Port of Yosu on July 16. (Last signal seen at 2:50 p.m. on June 24.)

The vessel Chemical Provider, said to be loaded with just over 4,000 metric tons of styrene, was last seen in the North

Atlantic Ocean, headed east-northeast at 12.5 knots. The vessel, which cast off from Houston on June 7, was expected to

arrive at the Port of Tarragona on July 2 before moving on to Turkey.




The tanker Chembulk VirginGorda, heard loaded with 15,000 metric tons of styrene and 10,000 metric tons of mixed

xylenes, was last seen moving south-southeast through the Yucatan Channel at 11.9 knots. The vessel, which cast off

from Port Arthur, was slated to arrive at the Port of Cristobal on June 27 before making its way to the Far East. (Last

update seen at 1:14 p.m on June 25.)

The tanker Jo Ilex, said to be fixed with 10,000 metric tons of styrene, was last seen in the Gulf of Mexico moving south-

southeast at 15.8 knots. The vessel cast off from Texas City and was slated to arrive at the Port of Antwerp on July 9.

(Last signal seen at 1:43 p.m. on June 25.)

The vessel Maritime Vanessa, said to be loaded with 5,000 metric tons of mixed xylenes, was last seen off the coast of

California moving north-northwest at 13.5 knots. The vessel initially cast of from Houston and departed from Balboa,

Panama on June 14. It was expected to arrive at the Port of Ulsan on July 9 before moving on to Mai Liao, sources said.

(Last update seen on




The spread between FOB Korea and DDP M2

US remained strong after spot prices in the US

gained over 40 cents/gal in just over a week.

Prices were supported by supply constraints

and a stronger energy complex and US M2

DDP prices were at $1,558/mt Wednesday,

putting the Korea-USG spread at $88.50/mt.

Spot benzene prices on a DDP USG basis were

well above the 5 and 20-day moving averages

which were 502.17 and 468.40 cents/gal

respectively.

Toluene and xylene prices continued to rise on

tight supply and rising blend values. June

toluene was talked near 422 while mixed

xylenes were at a 1-2 cents premium. Toluene

and MX blend values were estimated at 406

and 421 cents/gal, respectively.

Margins for HDA and TDP operators were

higher on the week despite rising toluene

values. HDA margins were estimated at $34.64

this week while TDP margins were at

$61.84/mt.

The benzene-toluene spread was at $269/mt

Wednesday while the toluene-MX spread

stood at $13.50/mt. The PX-MX spread was

estimated near $17.50/mt.

Spot styrene prices gained on stronger

benzene and were near 75.25 cents/lb as arb

opportunities were limited with Asian and

European prices roughly $30 below US values.

The styrene to benzene spread was lower on

the week, estimated at $104.50/mt.

Margins for US styrene producers on a spot

basis surged week on week, up nearly $72/mt,

estimated at $212.64/mt.

PRICING AND MARKET DYNAMICS

-$40.00-$20.00$0.00$20.00$40.00$60.00$80.00$100.00$120.00$140.00

$800.00$900.00

$1,000.00$1,100.00$1,200.00$1,300.00$1,400.00$1,500.00$1,600.00

3-M

ar-1

4

7-M

ar-1

4

13

-Mar

-14

19

-Mar

-14

25

-Mar

-14

31

-Mar

-14

4-A

pr-

14

10

-Ap

r-1

4

16

-Ap

r-1

4

23

-Ap

r-1

4

29

-Ap

r-1

4

6-M

ay-1

4

12

-May

-14

19

-May

-14

23

-May

-14

30

-May

-14

5-J

un

-14

11

-Ju

n-1

4

17

-Ju

n-1

4

23

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n-1

4

US BZ DDP M2 BZ FOB KOREA SPREAD

380.00

400.00

420.00

440.00

460.00

480.00

500.00

520.00

540.00

3-M

ar-1

4

7-M

ar-1

4

13

-Mar

-14

19

-Mar

-14

25

-Mar

-14

31

-Mar

-14

4-A

pr-

14

10

-Ap

r-1

4

16

-Ap

r-1

4

23

-Ap

r-1

4

29

-Ap

r-1

4

6-M

ay-1

4

12

-May

-14

16

-May

-14

22

-May

-14

29

-May

-14

4-J

un

-14

10

-Ju

n-1

4

16

-Ju

n-1

4

20

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n-1

4

SPOT BZ M1 DDP USG 5-DAY MOV AVE 20-DAY MOV AVE

$0.00

$10.00

$20.00

$30.00

$40.00

$50.00

$60.00

$0.00$20.00$40.00$60.00$80.00

$100.00$120.00$140.00

3-M

ar-1

4

7-M

ar-1

4

13

-Mar

-14

19

-Mar

-14

25

-Mar

-14

31

-Mar

-15

4-A

pr-

14

10

-Ap

r-1

4

16

-Ap

r-1

4

23

-Ap

r-1

4

29

-Ap

r-1

4

6-M

ay-1

4

12

-May

-14

16

-May

-14

22

-May

-14

29

-May

-14

4-J

un

-14

10

-Ju

n-1

4

16

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n-1

4

20

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n-1

4

TDP Margins $/mt HDA Margins $/mt

-$50.00

$0.00

$50.00

$100.00

$150.00

$200.00

$250.00

60.00

65.00

70.00

75.00

80.00

11

-Mar

-14

17

-Mar

-14

21

-Mar

-14

27

-Mar

-14

2-A

pr-

14

8-A

pr-

14

14

-Ap

r-1

4

21

-Ap

r-1

4

25

-Ap

r-1

4

2-M

ay-1

4

8-M

ay-1

4

14

-May

-14

20

-May

-14

27

-May

-14

2-J

un

-14

6-J

un

-14

12

-Ju

n-1

4

18

-Ju

n-1

4

24

-Ju

n-1

4

Styrene production costs Styrene spot value SM margins $/mt




H2 March Spot Benzene Average 482.458

H1 April Spot Benzene Average 475.000

H2 April Spot Benzene Average 451.700

H1 May Spot Benzene Average 446.050

H2 May Spot Benzene Average 443.100

H1 June Spot Benzene Average 458.410

H2 June MTD Spot Benzene Average 502.167










US Gulf to East Asia main ports: $50-54/mt.

US Gulf to China main ports: $51-55/mt.

US Gulf to Mumbai: $77-81mt

Ulsan to US Gulf: $59-63/mt

FREIGHT RATES – 10,000 mt parcels

US DDP SPOT BENZENE AVERAGES

EDITORS CONTACT DETIALS

Kevin Allen

Email: [email protected]

Phone: 713.344.3690

Yahoo: tpsusaros

mailto:[email protected]

arostradeflowreport 6.25.14

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