In Asia, according to players, the spot styrene market did not record any changes during this past week given the Chinese New Year holiday. Prices wise, offers levels were pegged unchanged at $940/ton on FOB South Korea basis, at $965/ton on CFR China basis and at CNY7510-7530/ton ($976-979/ton w/o VAT) on ex- tank Zhangjiagang, cash inc VAT basis. Trading activities were mostly halted during the holiday.
In Europe, spot styrene prices rose by $35/ton to $920/ton on FOB NWE basis, at the end of last week. The increase was tied to market talk regarding run rate cuts on the back of the narrow production margins.
In the US, average spot styrene prices firmed up a little, by $17/ton (0.75 cents/lb), to $887/ton (40.25 cents/lb) on FOB USG basis, at the end of last week. There are still arbitrage opportunities to Asia while overall demand is reported to be good on limited supplies in the US.