The mixed xylene (MX) market in Asia is on a downtrend. This is because production costs are rising due to high crude prices, and the operation rates of petrochemical plants are declining. In addition, the effects of the spread of COVID-19 remain and the economy is stagnant in many countries. Thus, the recovery of demand for petrochemical products is delayed. Furthermore, regular maintenance of MX plants in Asia in the first half of 2022 is mostly completed and future supply is said to be on the rise.

Although the spread between prices in Asia and the US widened, the arbitrage is closing as demand in the US is receding. Nevertheless, there are views that the MX market will not drop significantly due to the recent increase in demand for solvents in Southeast Asia and India. Since demand for gasoline in the US had been strong and MX is used for gasoline blending, the MX market in the US had been firm. Along with this, the arbitrage from Asia to the US was open and large quantities of Asian cargoes were exported to the US. Supported by this, the MX market in Asia had also been firm, but the situation is gradually changing.