The spot European benzene price fell to a three month low this week amid outages in the downstream styrene market, according to S&P Global Platts data.
The 5-30 day forward spot price was assessed Thursday at $875/mt CIF ARA, the lowest level since early November 2017.
In the European morning Friday, spot prices edged even lower, with the latest bid-offer ranges for February and March at $845-$860/mt and $850-$860/mt respectively.
Lower benzene prices coincided with downstream outages in the styrene market.
Repsol began its turnaround at its propylene oxide styrene monomer unit on January 27, the company said.
Production at Total's Gonfreville unit has been compromised in the past two weeks because of an issue with its cracker on the same site, according to sources.
BASF is also expected to start its styrene turnaround at Ludwigshafen in the next few weeks.
The benzene market has been assessed in a flat structure between February and March in the past few days as the downstream turnarounds are expected to hit demand for at least the next two months.
