Asian paraxylene prices gained US$8 a ton FOB Korea and CFR Taiwan/China in the third week of February.

Paraxylene prices rose sharply opening the week only to give back all the gains midweek although crude oil prices declined. However, the inched up more than US$10 a ton on the last two days of the week after oil price rose sharply on Wednesday.

In Europe, spot followed Asian values and mainly remained under fluctuation. Limited production also supported spot market as high mixed xylene premium over gasoline narrowed the spread between mixed xylene and paraxylene.

Spot paraxylene prices were up US$12 a ton FOB Rotterdam while February contract price was down Euro20 a ton from January.

In US, demand continued to weaken making pricing hard to fix, but prices tracked the movement in Asian region.

Offers were heard at US$650 a ton FOB US while mixed xylene price declined US cents 5 per gallon FOB USG for February and March delivery.

Courtesy: Weekly PriceWatch Report