News on PS pricing was shared with us by plastics pricing service ChemOrbis (Istanbul, Turkey). Gaining support from the strong oil market, benzene prices also rose on a global scale. When compared with the start of this month, U.S. benzene spot prices are up by around $0.2295 cents/gallon (about $68/ton) while they are up by $72/ton in Asia and by $50/ton in Europe, with the largest spike in Asian benzene prices recorded earlier this week.
In Europe, spot styrene prices recorded noticeable increases compared to the start of last week as they moved up more than $30/ton in a week's time, gaining support from a $35/ton spike in spot benzene prices recorded over last week.
In Asia, spot styrene prices on an FOB Korea basis recorded a total increase of $70/ton since the beginning of December, with $15/ton of this increase recorded in the earlier days of this week. Higher oil and benzene prices, along with tightening styrene supplies across the region due to scheduled shutdowns at several producers, were cited as the main reason behind the increase.
As of the start of this week, U.S. spot styrene prices were standing around $0.0265 cents/lb (around $58/ton) above the early December level. Although prices have been fluctuating since the middle of the month, U.S. styrene sellers are also trying to be firm with their prices due to higher upstream costs.
