In Asia, spot styrene and ethylene costs recorded increases in the month of April with support from strong oil prices that continue to hover above US$100/bbl, as per Chemorbis.
Looking at spot figures, Asian styrene prices gained US$120/ton increases on FOB Korea basis when compared to the beginning of April, supported by firming oil prices, amid strong styrene demand coming from China. Meanwhile, shutdowns and lower operating rates also played a role in the rise seen on styrene prices.
South Korea’s LG Chem shut down three styrene plants for a planned turnaround, and withdrew offers from the spot market in March-April. Presently, these plants are reported to have restarted and running at full capacity. However, since the company has just emerged from a turnaround, it is not expected to provide spot styrene to the market during May.
Meanwhile, Ellba-Eastern, a Shell and BASF joint venture, had declared force majeure on its 550,000 tpa styrene monomer/propylene oxide plant in Singapore, which was shut on March 22. The plant was restarted in mid-April and is reportedly running at 60-80% of capacity. However, the force majeure remains in place as Shell hasn’t lifted the force majeure on the output from its ethylene cracker at Pulau Bukom.Additionally, Japan Asahi Kasei lowered their operating rates by 10% compared to March during April at their 710,000 tpa styrene plant while Taiyo Petrochemical in Japan also lowered their operating rates by 20% at their 370,000 tpa styrene plant to 80% capacity.
South Korean YNCC’s 285,000 tpa styrene plant was shut at the beginning of April for four weeks maintenance while Samsung Total’s 930,000 tpa styrene plant in Korea was down for a turnaround between April 6 and May 22. During the shutdown of the company’s No.1 and No.2 plants, 80,000 tons of output is expected to be lost. In the spot ethylene market, prices did not show much change on CFR Northeast Asia basis but they gained US$125/ton on CFR Southeast Asia basis with respect to the beginning of April.
By mid-April, spot ethylene prices firmed up significantly on the back of the supply issues triggered by Shell Singapore’s prolonged shutdown at their 800,000 tpa steam cracker, where they halted their operations on March 18 due to a compressor problem. The company had initially pronounced the restart date as April 10 but later it was postponed to mid-May.
This push back on the restart date intensified the buying interest in the region and caused prices to move up. However, this situation has shifted direction during this week as spot ethylene prices eased down by US$15/ton on week over week basis since most buyers have secured some additional materials.
Yet, the cracker shutdowns continue in Asia as ExxonMobil’s 900,000 tpa cracker was shut on March 8 for 9 week of maintenance. Meanwhile, Thai PTTCH plans to halt their operations at their 400,000 tpa ethylene plant in Thailand during the first half of this year for 48 days turnaround.
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