Argus Toluene and Xylenes Daily

Copyright © 2018 Argus Media group

Argus Toluene and Xylenes DailyIssue 18-5 | Monday 8 January 2018

Market SnapShothighlightS

americasToluene strengthened on Monday amid tightening supply and steady consumption. MX held steady as discussions proved thin.

europeToluene prices declined as chemical interest eased. MX prices held steady following limited movement in the gasoline mar-ket.

Asia-Pacific Toluene fell amid limited buying interest. MX rose along with PX prices that were supported by firmer PTA futures.

Global toluene S/t

hhh

650

675

700

725

750

775

800

13 Dec 17 20 Dec 17 29 Dec 17 8 Jan 18

USGC NWE South Korea

Global mixed xylenes $/t

hhh

625

650

675

700

725

750

16 Oct 17 10 Nov 17 8 Dec 17 8 Jan 18

USGC NWE South Korea

americas $/t

timing Midpoint ± MtD

Toluene fob HTC Jan 736 +3 727.97

Toluene fob HTC Feb 747 +14

Mixed xylenes 5211 fob HTC Jan 730 0 721.83

Mixed xylenes 5211 fob HTC Feb 730 0

Mixed xylenes 843 fob HTC Jan 727 +3 715.13

europe $/t

timing low-high ± MtD

Toluene fob NWE Jan 670.00-690.00 -12.50 680.00

Mixed xylenes fob NWE Jan 670.00-690.00 0.00 670.25

Paraxylene fob NWE Jan 835.00-855.00 +5.00 823.86

Asia-Pacific $/t

Midpoint ± MtD

Toluene fob S Korea marker 709.50 -3.50 706.75

Toluene cfr China marker 735.00 0.00 729.00

Mixed xylenes fob S Korea marker 739.00 -1.50 733.60

Mixed xylenes cfr Taiwan marker 759.00 +3.50 749.60

Paraxylene fob S Korea marker 937.50 +6.50 929.20

Paraxylene cfr Taiwan marker 952.50 +6.50 944.20

Paraxylene cfr China marker 952.50 +6.50 944.20

PTA cfr China 725.00-745.00 +2.50

Formerly Argus DeWitt Toluene and Xylenes Daily

Licensed to: Ashley Organ, Argus Media Inc (New York)


Issue 18-5 | Monday 8 January 2018Argus Toluene and Xylenes Daily

Page 2 of 7

Toluene increased 1¢/USG in discussions as sellers backed away. Steady consumption from the chemical sector continues to soak up barrels of nitration-grade toluene. With CGT nearly at parity with conventional blend values, blending demand was also seen for CGT. MSTDP and TDP economics remain positive in the short-term; however, benzene narrowed to a 63.5¢/USG premium to toluene Monday.

January fob ITC bids opened 3¢/USG weaker than the last session at 235¢/USG and rose to 236¢/USG before offers emerged 10¢/USG higher at 255¢/USG. Bids later rose to 237¢/USG against weaker offers at 248¢/USG on an 8-20 January ddp ITC basis. The assessment increased based on bids and offers.

February was offered at 255¢/USG absent firm bids. Notion-al bids were pegged flat to January at 238¢/USG, and the as-sessment increased, now at a 3.5¢/USG premium over January amid anticipation of more blending demand ahead of the RVP switch beginning in March.

Mixed xylenesMX resisted change for a second session, as selling interest remains muted amid limited MX extraction by refiners. With conventional MX blend values seen at a 10¢/USG premium over spot prices, leaving MX in the gasoline proved economical. De-mand from the paraxylene market proved stable in a balanced PX market. MX now stands at a 6¢/USG discount to toluene.

Bids surfaced at parity to Friday at 230¢/USG on a January fob ITC basis. Notional offers were pegged flat to last heard offers at 249¢/USG absent firm selling interest. The assessment was unchanged based on discussions.

Americas prices ¢/USG

Timing Low-High ± MTD

Toluene fob HTC Jan 237.00-248.00 +1.00 239.70

Toluene fob HTC Feb 237.00-255.00 +4.50

Mixed xylenes 5211 fob HTC Jan 230.00-249.00 0.00 236.90

Mixed xylenes 5211 fob HTC Feb 230.00-249.00 0.00

Mixed xylenes 843 fob HTC Jan 232.00-245.00 +1.00 234.70

Toluene-conv gasoline blend 233.11 +1.10

Toluene-Rbob gasoline blend 224.97 +1.72

MX-conv gasoline blend 241.40 +1.11

MX-Rbob gasoline blend 231.01 +1.99

Contract prices

Timing Price ±

Paraxylene ¢/lb Nov 44.50 0.00

Related marketsTiming Price ±

Nymex Rbob ¢/USG Feb 179.18 +0.60

Nymex WTI $/bl Feb 61.73 +0.29

AMeRiCAs

Toluene, MX premium to gasoline 87M ¢/USG

hhh

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

18 Oct 17 13 Nov 17 11 Dec 17 8 Jan 18

Toluene fob minus gasoline 87MMixed xylene 5211 minus gasoline 87M

Mixed xylenes blend values ¢/USG

hhh

180

200

220

240

260

280

300

18 Oct 17 13 Nov 17 11 Dec 17 8 Jan 18

Conventional blend value Rbob blend value

Toluene

No February bids or offers were seen, and the assessment remained flat to January.

Bids for MX with up to 1pc non-aromatic content were seen at 230¢/USG, unchanged from the previous session, and rose to 232¢/USG absent firm offers. Notional offers were pegged flat to last heard offers at 245¢/USG. Bids and offers were used to inform the 843-quality assessment, which increased and stood at a narrowed 1¢/USG discount to 5211-quality MX.


Issue Ref: 344306

.



Page 3 of 7

Europe paraxylene premium to mixed xylenes $/t

hhh

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

19 Oct 17 14 Nov 17 8 Dec 17 8 Jan 18

Paraxylene premium to naphtha S/t

hhh

190

200

210

220

230

240

250

260

19 Oct 17 14 Nov 17 8 Dec 17 8 Jan 18

Toluene premium to Eurobob $/t

hhh

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

110

19 Oct 17 14 Nov 17 8 Dec 17 8 Jan 18

Toluene prices declined on Monday as weaker chemical de-mand weighed on premiums.

Prices were discussed at a $50-70/t premium to Eurobob oxy-grade, lower than the $65-80/t premium discussed last week, as chemical demand eased, leaving firmer blending demand to support discussions.

Water levels on the Rhine have risen to 679cm at the key measuring point of Kaub and are restricting barge traffic. But consumers indicated that despite delays this has not impacted toluene supply. River levels are forecast to fall towards 550cm by mid-week.

Mixed xylenesMX prices were steady on Monday following limited movement in the gasoline market. Prices were discussed at a $50-70/t premium to gasoline and in line with toluene values.

Eurobob oxy-grade eased by $0.25/t to $618/t, while the five day average rose by $0.90/t to $617.30/t.

PX prices firmed on Monday, buoyed by gains in the Asian market.

An initial settlement for the January PX contract price has yet to be reached, with negotiations delayed by the New Year holidays. There were some expectations for an increase from December following firmer crude prices and gains in Asia.

Europe prices $/t

Timing Low-High ± 30-day average

Toluene fob NWE Jan 670.00-690.00 -12.50 677.36

Mixed xylenes fob NWE Jan 670.00-690.00 0.00 666.53

Paraxylene fob NWE Jan 835.00-855.00 +5.00 814.44

Contract prices

Timing Low-High ±

Toluene $/t Jan 690.00-690.00 0.00

Paraxylene €/t Dec 790.00 0.00

Related markets

Timing Price ±

Naphtha 65 para NWE cif $/t 588.50 +2.50

Gasoline 95r 10ppm NWE cif $/t 634.00 -0.25

Ice Brent $/bl Mar 67.78 +0.16

EuRoPE

Toluene




Page 4 of 7

Asia prices $/tTiming Low-High ± MTD

Toluenefob S Korea 2H Jan* 695.00-705.00 -3.50fob S Korea 1H Feb* 704.00-715.00 -3.50fob S Korea 2H Feb* 704.00-715.00 -3.50fob S Korea 1H Mar* 705.00-716.00 -3.50fob S Korea 2H Mar* 705.00-716.00 -3.50fob S Korea marker 709.50 -3.50 706.75cfr China 2H Jan* 730.00-740.00 0.00cfr China 1H Feb* 730.00-740.00 0.00cfr China 2H Feb* 730.00-740.00 0.00cfr China 1H Mar* 730.00-740.00 0.00cfr China marker 735.00 0.00 729.00East China dom Yn/t 5,780.00-5,790.00 -5.00India dom ex INR/kg 47.50-48.00 0.00Mixed xylenesfob S Korea 2H Jan 730.00-734.00 -1.50fob S Korea 1H Feb* 737.00-741.00 -1.50fob S Korea 2H Feb* 737.00-741.00 -1.50fob S Korea 1H Mar 742.00-746.00 -1.50fob S Korea marker 739.00 -1.50 733.60cfr Taiwan 2H Jan 753.00-756.00 +3.50cfr Taiwan 1H Feb* 757.00-761.00 +3.50cfr Taiwan 2H Feb* 757.00-761.00 +3.50cfr Taiwan 1H Mar 762.00-766.00 +3.50cfr Taiwan marker 759.00 +3.50 749.60Paraxylenefob S Korea 2H Jan 934.00-935.00 +8.50fob S Korea 1H Feb* 936.00-937.00 +6.50fob S Korea 2H Feb* 936.00-937.00 +6.50fob S Korea 1H Mar* 939.00-940.00 +6.50fob S Korea 2H Mar 939.00-940.00 +6.50fob S Korea 1H Apr 939.00-940.00 +6.50fob S Korea marker 937.50 +6.50 929.20cfr Taiwan 2H Jan 949.00-950.00 +8.50cfr Taiwan 1H Feb* 951.00-952.00 +6.50cfr Taiwan 2H Feb* 951.00-952.00 +6.50cfr Taiwan 1H Mar* 954.00-955.00 +6.50cfr Taiwan 2H Mar 954.00-955.00 +6.50cfr Taiwan 1H Apr 954.00-955.00 +6.50cfr Taiwan marker 952.50 +6.50 944.20cfr China 2H Jan 949.00-950.00 +8.50cfr China 1H Feb* 951.00-952.00 +6.50cfr China 2H Feb* 951.00-952.00 +6.50cfr China 1H Mar* 954.00-955.00 +6.50cfr China 2H Mar 954.00-955.00 +6.50cfr China 1H Apr 954.00-955.00 +6.50cfr China marker 952.50 +6.50 944.20PTAChina domestic Yn/t 5,830.00-6,000.00 +20.00cfr China 725.00-745.00 +2.50Future China Yn/t May 5,688.00 +58.00*denotes the timings used to calculate marker averages

Related markets

Timing Price ±

Naphtha Japan c+f 602.50 -2.00

Dubai Mar 65.02 -0.18

AsiA-PAcific

Toluene fell amid limited buying interest, while negotiations continued to remain muted.

Market discussions were limited with only a sole bid emerg-ing for March fob South Korea cargoes at $705/t and a sole February offer placed at $715/t.

The February-March intermonth spread continued to be valued at $1/t in contango amid the lack of meaningful nego-tiations.

Discussions in the cfr east China market were absent, as such markets for February were at rolled over at $730-740/t amid the lack of meaningful negotiations. Values in the domes-tic ex-tank market kept steady. Prompt ex-tank prices in China held steady at 5,780-5,790 yuan/t, while forward February prices settled at Yn5,790-5,800/t, which is about $746-$748/t on an import parity basis.

The markets in India continued to hold with discussions remaining between 47.50-48 rupees/kg.

Mixed xylenesMX prices rose, tracking the strength in PX prices. The week opened with weak trading activity.

Bids for February fob South Korea cargoes were at $737/t against offers at $741/t, although no deal could be confirmed. A lone second-half February bid for cfr Taiwan cargo was at $757/t.

ParaxyleneFirmer PTA values continued to push PX higher. Bids were countered with hardly any offers.

Market participants started bidding in morning trading at $949/t cfr for March. Bids for Asian cargoes continued to climb to about $953/t in afternoon trading. Zhejiang Yisheng and OTI were in the market to offer open-origin volumes at $955/t. No deal was concluded by the close of trading.

No fixed price bid was placed for February. Bids for Febru-

Toluene




Page 5 of 7

Toluene premium to cfr Japan naphtha $/t

hhh

70

80

90

100

110

120

130

20 Oct 17 15 Nov 17 11 Dec 17 8 Jan 18

cfr Taiwan paraxylene premium to MX $/t

hhh

170

180

190

200

210

220

20 Oct 17 15 Nov 17 11 Dec 17 8 Jan 18

South Korea PX-toluene, BZ-toluene, MX-toluene spreads $/t

hhh

-50

0

50

100

150

200

250

20 Oct 17 15 Nov 17 11 Dec 17 8 Jan 18

PX minus toluene BZ minus tolueneMX minus toluene

Singapore toluene-gasoline blend value $/t

hhh

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

20 Oct 17 15 Nov 17 11 Dec 17 8 Jan 18

ary-March time swap was placed at -$4.50-5.50/t, countered with offers at -$2/t. The February-March intermonth time spread was maintained at $3/t contango.

PTT's tender to sell 10,000t of PX for loading in first-half February closed today and is due to be awarded tomorrow.

The January-February intermonth spread was maintained at $4/t contango on weak activity. April prices were assessed at parity with March because of the absence of meaningful activity.

PTAChinese domestic PTA prices moved up amid higher futures. Discussions were more active than the previous trading ses-sion amid more consumer buying. There were around 20,000t traded at 5,830-6,000 yuan/t on a delivered basis. Consumers were still the major participants during the trading session,

accounting for more than 50pc of total trades.The import market turned active. Although South Ko-

rean producers had no firm offers, Taiwan producers offered January cargoes at $745/t cfr China. PET bottle chip produc-ers raised bids to $725/t cfr China prompted by firm export orders. An import cargo traded at $735/t.

Downstream polyester sales remained firm with a 110-120pc sales to output range before the close of trading. Staple rose to Yn9,060/t but filament POY prices were unchanged.




Page 6 of 7

Trafigura to buy Russian naphthaTrading company Trafigura is expected to buy up to 75,000t of 0.046pc sulphur naphtha from Rosneft in January-February, on a fob basis at Russia’s far north port of Arkhangelsk.

The product will come from Rosneft’s Samara refineries and its 340,000 b/d Ryazan plant, as well as from Bashneft’s Ufa complex — controlled by Rosneft — and the 360,000 b/d Yaroslavl refinery, co-owned by Rosneft and Gazpromneft. Trafigura was the main buyer of Rosneft naphtha last year, under a long-term contract for product from Ryazan and Yaroslavl, as well as the company’s 90,000 b/d Nizhnevartovsk refinery.

The White Sea port of Arkhangelsk loaded 333,800t of naphtha in January-November, compared with 436,300t in the first 11 months of 2016. Product is shipped from Arkhangelsk to the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany.

Separately, trading firm Vitol will take up to 60,000t of alkylate from the Ufa complex’s 140,000 b/d Novoil refinery in January-February, on a fob basis at the Baltic port of Baltiysk, in Russia’s Kaliningrad exclave. Rosneft supplied Novoil alkylate to the Baltiysk terminal for the first time December, according to market participants. Baltiysk is operated by VTTI, co-owned by Vitol and US midstream company Buckeye Partners.

A 30,000t cargo of alkylate from Baltiysk is expected to head to the Alexela terminal at Estonia’s port of Paldiski. Novoil alkylate was previously supplied to ports in the Baltic states for gasoline blending — primarily Lithuania’s Klaipeda for Vitol, but also to Paldiski for Trafigura. Total supply by rail and river to outlets in the Baltic states reached 150,500t in the first 11 months of last year, up from 29,000t in January-November 2016.

Enterprise expands butane isom capacityEnterprise Products Partners plans to expand its butane isom-erization facility at its Mont Belvieu, Texas, complex.

The company is considering two expansion options that would add 30,000 b/d of incremental capacity to the current 116,000 b/d facility. The expansion is supported by long-term agreements for butane isomerization, storage and transporta-tion.

A timeline for the expansion was not announced.The butane isomerization facility converts normal butane

into high-purity isobutane.

ExxonMobil Beaumont compressor shutdownA compressor was shut down over the weekend at ExxonMobil's 348,000 b/d refinery in Beaumont, Texas.

The shutdown resulted in nearly four hours of increased flaring beginning at 11:30am ET on 6 January, according to a filing to state environmental monitors.

Magellan notifies shippers of inventory adjustmentsMagellan Midstream Partners sent a notice to shippers on 3 January iterating temporary adjustments to gasoline invento-ries in preparation for Reid Vapor Pressure (RVP) specification transitions.

Starting 1 February, Magellan will decrease current sub-octane V-grade gasoline maximum volumes by 500,000 bl in its central system, according to the notice, which was obtained by Argus.

Magellan typically draws down inventories to facilitate the transition to lower RVP gasoline. This year, the notification comes amid an exceptionally large build in gasoline invento-

ARoMATics nEws

Weekly benzene report

The Argus Benzene and Derivatives report provides global pricing and fundamentals analysis for benzene and major derivatives, including cyclohexane, phenol and cumene. The report also includes key feedstocks prices, in-depth spread relationships, arbitrage opportunities, modeling of benzene economics, and detailed information on operational issues affecting the market.

Email us at [email protected] to request further information or a sample copy

www.argusmedia.com/petrochemicals


illuminating the marketsPetrochemicals


PublisherAdrian Binks

CEO AmericasEuan Craik

Chief operating officerMatthew Burkley

Global compliance officerJeffrey Amos

Commercial managerKaren Johnson

Managing editorJim Kennett

EditorAmy StrahanTel: +1 713 360 [email protected]

Customer support and salesTechnical queries [email protected] other queries [email protected], USTel: +1 713 968 0000New York. US Tel: +1 646 376 6130Washington DC, US Tel: + 1 202 775 0240London, UK Tel: +44 20 7780 4200Astana, Kazakhstan Tel: +7 7172 72 92 94Beijing Tel: +86 10 8535 7682Dubai Tel: +971 4434 5112Moscow, Russia Tel: +7 495 933 757Rio de Janeiro, BrazilTel: +55 21 2548 0817Singapore Tel: +65 6496 9966Tokyo, Japan Tel: +81 3 3561 1805

Argus Toluene and Xylenes Daily is published by the Argus Media group

Registered officeLacon House, 84 Theobald’s Road, London, WC1X 8NL Tel: +44 20 7780 4200 email: [email protected]

ISSN: 2399-9489

Copyright noticeCopyright © 2018 Argus Media group. All rights reserved. All intellectual property rights in this publication and the information published herein are the exclusive property of Argus, and/or its licensors (including exchanges) and may only be used under licence from Argus. Without limiting the foregoing, by accessing this publication you agree that you will not copy or reproduce or use any part of its contents (including, but not limited to, single prices or any other individual items of data) in any form or for any purpose whatsoever except under valid licence from Argus. Further, your access to and use of data from exchanges may be subject to additional fees and/or execution of a separate agreement, whether directly with the exchanges or via Argus.

Trademark noticeARGUS, ARGUS MEDIA, the ARGUS logo, ARGUS TOLUENE AND XYLENES DAILY, other ARGUS publication titles and ARGUS index names are trademarks of Argus Media Limited.Visit www.argusmedia.com/trademarks for more information.

DisclaimerThe data and other information published herein (the “Data”) are provided on an “as is” basis. Argus and its licensors (including exchanges) make no warranties, express or implied, as to the accuracy, adequacy, timeliness, or completeness of the Data or fitness for any particular purpose. Argus and its licensors (including exchanges) shall not be liable for any loss, claims or damage arising from any party’s reliance on the Data and disclaim any and all liability related to or arising out of use of the Data to the full extent permissible by law.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Proposal to introduce TDI-grade tolueneArgus proposes to introduce new daily and weekly TDI-grade toluene assessments (ASTM specification D-5606, basis fob NWE) in response to increased demand for TDI-grade product within Europe.

At the same time, for reasons of clarity, Argus will add nitration grade to the description of its existing toluene assessments. Argus also proposes to change the basis of the nitration-grade toluene assessment to cif ARA, from fob ARA previously.

Argus proposes that these changes will take effect from 29 January 2018.

Argus will accept comments on this change up to 12 January 2018. For further details and/or to discuss com-ments on this proposal, please contact Andy Nicholson at [email protected], +33 1 3466 5591, or Sam Carew at [email protected], +44 20 7780 4226. Formal comments should be marked as such and may be submitted by email to [email protected] or by post to Sam Carew, Argus Media, Lacon House, 84 Theobald’s Road London, WC1X 8NL and received by 12 January 2018. Please note, formal comments will be published after the consultation period unless confidentiality is specifically requested.

ries region-wide at the end of December. Total motor gasoline stocks increased by 2.7mn bl the week ending 29 December, according to the US Energy Infomration Administration (EIA). The rise was the largest week-over-week increase for the last week of the year in more than four years.

The combination of longer supplies throughout the US midcontinent and the draw-down of stocks in the Magellan pipeline system could result in supply-based pressure on gaso-line prices in the southern midcontinent for the coming weeks and into February.

Magellan will return V-grade maximum volumes back to normal levels around 1 May.

Repsol restarts Bilbao refinery CDUSpanish inegrated Repsol's 240,000 b/d Petronor refinery in Bilbao is restarting a 90,000 b/d crude distillation unit (CDU) after four days offline.

Petronor took the CDU and a 48,000 b/d visbreaker offline on 4 January, when high seas prevented tankers unloading at the Punta Lucero terminal that serves the refinery.

Repsol did not say when the visbreaker will come back online.


.

https://direct.argusmedia.com/newsandanalysis/article/1601313

Argus Toluene and Xylenes Daily

Documents