Vienna —
European mixed xylenes are likely to continue to be an opportunistic source of cargoes for India, a buyer based in India said Tuesday on the sidelines of the annual EPCA conference in Vienna.
In September, a seller in Europe was heard to have shipped 15,000-20,000 mt of mixed xylenes to Indian paraxylene producer Reliance for its paraxylene production.
A source estimated a gross profit of around $30/mt for the trade, and that there would be more in October.
Reliance is currently the second largest paraxylene producer globally with a total nameplate capacity of 4.2 million mt a year. Its largest paraxylene unit at Jamnagar, with a capacity of 2.2 million mt/year, started commercial production in January 2017.
However, it said that purchases from Europe would not be a regular event.
Rather, this depends on the dynamics of the market and the possibility of making the trade route work.
Other market sources were also heard eying this trade , with some thinking of participating in it in the future.
European domestic demand for mixed xylenes has been weak in recent times.
However, the outlet to India as well as to the Middle East in September has reduced excess supply. As a result, European mixed xylene premiums to gasoline have been at record highs.
–Ng Baoying, [email protected]
–Edited by Jonathan Dart, [email protected]
Source: S&P Global Platts
