The US December paraxylene contract price settled at 46 cents/lb ($1,014.11/mt), a 6 cents/lb decline from November, sources said Monday.
The drop was in line with market expectations, with most market players calling for at least a 5 cents/lb fall.
Fundamentals continued to be bearish on weak Asian demand for xylenes and quiet demand domestically from downstream markets.
However, derivative purified terephthalic acid has improved after BP’s restart of one of its units at its Cooper River facility in South Carolina, but this unit was only operating at 50% capacity, sources said. There was some paraxylene supply tightness on the East Coast as a result, but overall, paraxylene demand was considered slow, sources added.
The Cooper River facility has a total PTA capacity of 2.86 billion lb/year.
Spot pricing has been on a downward trend since the August 12 assessment of $1,355/mt FOB US Gulf Coast, falling a total of $585/mt, according to Platts data. US spot paraxylene was last assessed Friday at $770/mt FOB USG.
– Platts.com
