The benzene market is supported by tight supply/demand in China. While inventories at ports have been rising since the beginning of this week, buying interest in benzene is strong as the styrene monomer (SM) market is gaining. The recent firm international market is also a bullish factor.
In the SM market, while the arrival of imported cargoes is limited, procurement for exports is active. As a result, few cargoes are available on a spot basis. The market is forecast to remain firm for the time being.
For caprolactam (CPL), operation rates of production facilities are kept a low level of around 70% of capacity and supply is perceived to be tight. End-users are buying only required volumes.
In the phenol market, while there are many available cargoes, demand is sluggish. Cargoes are in surplus.
Regarding the future benzene market, demand as a gasoline feedstock, the crude oil market trend, domestic economic policy in China and the operation status of derivative facilities are drawing attention.