China Petroleum and Chemical Corp., or Sinopec, has reduced its North China toluene ex-factory offers by Yuan 200/mt ($30.97/mt), or about 4%, Tuesday, amid weakness in demand and the yuan, an industry source said.
Its North China subsidiaries at Shijiazhuang and Tianjin are now offering toluene at Yuan 4,800/mt and Yuan 4,900/mt, respectively, which is about $610.64.07/mt and $623.63/mt on an import parity basis.
On Tuesday, China's central bank set the daily reference rate at Yuan 6.4559 to the dollar, about 0.8% weaker when compared with Yuan 6.4078 on the corresponding day last week.
The weaker yuan raises costs for importers of dollar-denominated products.
The last time the rate was weaker than Yuan 6.4559 was on July 20, 2011, when it stood at Yuan 6.4592.
