Asian benzene prices fell $22.33/mt from the last trade session to a seven-month low of $812.67/mt FOB Korea Monday, as weak demand from the downstream markets stymied buying from China and the US.
The FOB Korea marker was last assessed lower on November 2, 2017, at $811/mt, S&P Global Platts data showed.
Length in the US Gulf Coast market, on top of poor demand from the downstream styrenics, has kept the arbitrage window tightly shut -- leaving few outlets for Asian tonnage.
The overhang in supply was in turn, attributed to an earlier month-on-month spike of 87,000 mt in May imports to 113,000 mt into the US -- which would have loaded in April from Asia.
August FOB USG benzene was assessed at 285 cents/gal Monday, or $852.15/mt, while the freight rate from South Korea to the USGC for a 10,000 mt benzene cargo was assessed at $51.50/mt.
Similarly in China, weak demand from the downstream markets weighed on sentiment, which saw the CFR China marker fall $21.50/mt from last Thursday to be assessed at $818.50/mt Monday.
There were no assessments last Friday because of a public holiday in Singapore.
Adding to this, demand for benzene from China remained dampened by uncertainties over import taxes to be levied on downstream styrene and phenol.
In styrene markets, final antidumping duties on imports from South Korea, the US and Taiwan are expected to be announced end-June. Until finalized duty levels are confirmed, market participants adopted a wait-and-see approach.
As for phenol, an announcement by China's Customs Tariff Commission of the State Council on Saturday threatened an additional 25% tariff on $50 billion worth of US goods, among which included phenol.
