Sources pegged the US spot mixed xylene market lower Thursday at roughly 418 cents/gallon FOB USG for August, down 10 cents/gallon from Wednesday's assessment, on the sharp fall in the NYMEX energy complex.
Specifically, September NYMEX crude futures settled down $5.30/barrel to $86.63/barrel while September NYMEX RBOB futures moved down 19.41 cents/gallon to settle at 273.72 cents/gallon.
August bids for spot mixed xylene were at 415 cents/gallon FOB USG early in the day Thursday, but by the market-on-close assessment window, all bids were removed. A trader said, "No one wants to buy when they see the axe falling." He was referring to NYMEX energy futures as the "axe" in his statement.
Meanwhile, August offers started the day Thursday at 425 cents/gallon FOB USG, and were down to 415 cents/gallon FOB USG by the MOC. There were no trades reported.
US spot mixed xylene was last heard traded July 21 at 422 cents/gallon FOB USG from Vitol to Kolmar and 425 cents/gallon FOB USG from ICC to Total. Confirmation for the deals was not immediately available.
Mixed xylene's premium to the blend value was calculated by Platts Wednesday at 71.18 cents/gallon, down from 72 cents/gallon Tuesday. However, sources felt that with Thursday's dramatic drop in mixed xylene prices, the premium to the blend value had the potential to keep on shrinking.
Market participants said they consider the blend value to the price floor for mixed xylene.
