South Korea's benzene exports to China tanked by 30,193 mt, or 82.8% month on month, to a 14-month low of 6,291 mt in June, crashing below the 10,000-mt support level, data released Monday by the Korea Customs Service showed.
The sharp fall was largely attributed to the wide price gap between domestic and imported benzene cargoes, resulting in a drought of trades in June.
State-owned China Petroleum and Chemical Corp., or Sinopec, had cut its ex-works offer price for benzene in East China by Yuan 200 ($32) to Yuan 8,900/mt on May 24 and had not attempted to adjust its offer price since.
Market sources said that the price cut by Sinopec was due to high benzene inventories in China.
Meanwhile, Asian benzene prices averaged $1,262.73/mt FOB Korea in June, $29.63/mt or 2.3% lower than May's average, Platts data showed.
The average price gap between domestic and imported cargoes in China was at least $52.67/mt, prompting Chinese buyers to steer away from importing benzene.
SOUTH KOREA'S BENZENE EXPORTS:
*Includes destinations with relatively low or sporadic volumes
