Benzene markets in Asia hit an eight-month high in November 2017 on strong buying interest and high upstream prices. In US, spot benzene prices jumped on tight prompt supply during the month. Supply in the US has been tight since late October due to regional plant outages. In Europe, benzene spot market rose as significant volumes were still being shipped to the US where supply continued to be tight. Asian marker, FOB Korea surged 7.8% in November while US spot prices were up 15.8%. European spot rose 15.9% on the month.

Caprolactum prices in Asia were up amid modest buying interest from the downstream. Domestic run rate was at 76.2% during the month. China’s Juhua was planning to shut its 100,000 tons per year CPL line from mid-December for maintenance which may last 15 days. Asian caprolactam spot prices were up 6.1% in November as compared to last month. Sinopec and Fibrant had hiked November nomination for liquid goods.

Nylon or polyamide chip prices were mostly up in November supported by caprolactum market. Producers operated at slightly lower rates as compared to last month. However, as downstream buyers purchased cautiously, pressure on the supply side still existed, especially for high-priced bright and semi-dull nylon-6 chips. Offers for Taiwan-origin chips were up 5% from last month. In China, bright conventional spinning nylon-6 chips were down 6.9% from October while semi-dull chips price jumped 0.3% on the month.

Nylon filament yarn prices inched up amid firm raw material cost during the month. Market largely remained range bound supported by chip cost and modest demand. Buyers followed up actively, however high offers could hardly attract the interest. Industrial run rate was at 78%, with capacity at around 3.5 million tons a year while demand was on a need-to basis. In China, semi-dull FDY70D/24F up US cents 2 a kg from previous month while FDY40D rose US cents 8 a kg as compared to October 2017.

Courtesy: Weekly PriceWatch Report