Northwest European styrene monomer spot offtake remains lackluster this week on the back of supply length, with buyers predicting lower prices in the coming weeks and industry consumers keen to reduce stock levels for the end of the year, sources said.
"Some waited for the styrene CP to settle but I think it is down to people waiting for lower prices," a trade source said.
End-of-year inventory management, which was reducing styrene demand for the fourth quarter, added to limited spot liquidity, the source said.
This comes as the NWE November contract price settled at Eur960/mt FOB ARA ($1,056/mt) Monday, down Eur30/mt from the October contract price of Eur990/mt.
Styrene monomer spot barge values loading 5-30 days forward were assessed at $850/mt FOB ARA Monday, down $38/mt month on month, putting the spot market at a $206/mt or 20% discount to November MCP, Platts data showed.
Despite the steep spot discounts to contract values and Poland's Synthos heard buying feedstocks for its downstream styrenics production, spot buying from other industry consumers remained lackluster.
Unipetrol's steam cracker in Litvinov, Czech Republic, was shut down on August 13 after an explosion and is expected to restart next July, the company said in a statement last week.
"As a consequence of Unipetrol's steam cracker shutdown, Synthos sources feedstock...for its Styrenics production from the external market to fulfill its contractual obligations towards its customers," a Synthos spokeswoman said last week.
Synthos has a combined styrene capacity of 300,000 mt/year at its two plants in Oswiecim, Poland, and Kralupy, Czech Republic. All of Synthos' styrene output is used internally for production of various styrenics products, according to Platts data.
Market participants expect traders to pick up much of the available spot volumes as industry buyers continue to manage inventory levels for the end of the year.
