The global pure benzene market is expected to return to balance in the second half of the year

Recently, the global market for pure benzene has been in short supply and prices have risen
.

Especially in the North American and European markets, the supply of pure benzene in the first half of this year is rarely tight, and the number of ships that can be used for pure benzene transportation is tight, and the shipment of Asian exports to Europe is blocked

However, S&P Global Platts' recent analysis believes that the global pure benzene market is expected to restore the balance of supply and demand in the second half of the year
.

As far as the US market is concerned, data shows that South Korea’s exports of pure benzene to the United States have increased significantly recently.
The amount of pure benzene shipped from South Korea to the United States from May 1st to 10th is equivalent to the level of April.
Overtaking China to become South Korea's largest export market for pure benzene

At the same time, with the easing of the new crown epidemic, the advancement of the new crown vaccination process, and the promotion of business opportunities in the summer to the production and operation of US companies, the domestic pure benzene production capacity in the United States is also expected to increase this summer
.

In Europe, ExxonMobil's chemical plant in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, is about to finish maintenance work and resume operations.
Coupled with the increase in global freighter shipping, the balance of supply and demand in the European market will also be improved

At the same time, the downstream demand of pure benzene market is expected to continue to maintain a strong growth trend
.

S&P Global Platts expects that downstream production such as styrene and phenol will maintain healthy development

It is worth noting that for some time, the high price of pure benzene in the Asian market has caused dissatisfaction among downstream manufacturers
.

Affected by the tight supply of pure benzene in the first half of the year, the price of pure benzene in Europe and the United States is generally higher than that in Asia.
While a large amount of Asian production capacity is exported to Europe and the United States, local prices have also soared

In addition, the spot CFR spot selling price of pure benzene obtained by local buyers in Asia in the first half of this year was even nearly 10 times higher than the fixed-term contract price this year
.

Some buyers pointed out that the reason for the soaring price of pure benzene is actually more caused by markets outside of Asia, but it is really difficult to accept such a high premium for Asian buyers