Houston (Platts)--12Nov2010/235 pm EST/1935 GMT
US toluene and mixed xylenes interest came to a halt Friday following an overnight collapse in Asian aromatics and a drop in energy. Paraxylene on an FOB Korea basis tumbled $121/mt to $1,209/mt for H1 January. The fall was on the back of cotton futures, which had been supporting bullish MX, PX and PTA prices previously. On Friday, May cotton futures dropped by the 7.5% daily loss limit to Yuan 29,290/mt, marking the second consecutive day that cotton futures have dropped after a strong rally to a record Yuan 33,720/mt Wednesday. At mid-week, the market shifted lower over concerns that China was taking measures to tame inflation and liquidity. "With that shift...that meant the polyester chain needed to drop," one participant said. Also limiting trade was hesitation on a seasonal slowdown in December, two US-based traders explained. "I don't want to be aggressive at the year end," one participant commented. Back in the US, toluene and MX participants vacated the market over the uncertainty on Friday. Assuming USG prices would trace movements in the Far East, mixed xylenes would spiral down $59/mt or 19.50 cents to roughly 311.50 cents/gal while toluene would shed $25/mt (8.25 cents) to about 281.75 cents/gal. Friday MX ranges though were at 310-330 cents/gal FOB USG while toluene was seen at 280-290 cents/gal. Upstream, December crude futures on the NYMEX were trading at $84.91/barrel, down $2.90, while December RBOB was at 220.40 cents/gal, down 3 cents, at 11:25 am Houston time (1625 GMT). --Angie Joe, angie_joe@platts.com Similar stories appear in Polymerscan. See more information at http://www.platts.com/Products/polymerscan