Aromatics

Benzene prices on an FOB Korea basis and paraxylene (PX) prices on a CFR Northeast Asia basis were bullish in the second half of the week as crude prices increased sharply due to the attack by Israel on Iran.

Gasoline Component

MTBE prices on an FOB China basis were stable. Chinese MTBE makers were still conducting production cuts as supply was seen to be in surplus. On the other hand, demand was not strong. In Southeast Asia, a Malaysian refiner bought a July cargo via a tender but the deal price was lower than that in the term contract.

Olefins

Ethylene prices on a CFR Northeast Asia basis strengthened slightly since available cargoes were limited. As export of ethane from the US to China was disrupted, Chinese cargoes for sale might decrease going forward. This was also a reason why buying interest was strong.

In the Asia propylene market, buying interest from end-users was strong.

In the Northeast Asia market, as there were views that an agreement might be made in US China trade talks, buying interest from end-users was strong. Under this situation, the market was boosted slightly.

In Southeast Asia, supply was perceived to be tight as the startup of Lotte Chemical Indonesia's new naphtha cracker was delayed and the restart of Pengerang Refining and Petrochemical (PRefChem)'s naphtha cracker was not smooth.

In the CFR Northeast Asia market, trade was muted. There were available cargoes including those from outside the region but sellers were unwilling to reduce prices to sell. On the other hand, as demand for synthetic rubber and tires was weak, buying interest for butadiene was dull. In South Korea, a petrochemical maker's plant was shut down due to a fire but surplus of butadiene was not seen.

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