Singapore (Platts)--29Nov2010/609 am EST/1109 GMT
The spread between paraxylene and isomer mixed xylenes in Asia widened to $272/mt Friday, the widest since August 2009, as MX weakened last week on increased supply, Platts data shows. PX CFR Taiwan/China settled at $1,281.50/mt Friday, down $29.50 on the week, while isomer-MX fell $36.50 on the week to $1,009.50/mt CFR Taiwan. PX producers typically need a spread of around $170-200/mt between PX and isomer-MX to breakeven. Last Friday, a South Korean trader said nearly 80,000 mt of arbitrage isomer-MX from the US would arrive in January, coupled with another 10,000 mt from India's Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd. Last week, MRPL sold via tender 10,000 mt isomer-MX loading early January to Kolmar at a lower discount of $92/mt to the FOB Korea benchmark, which market participants saw as a sign of isomer-MX becoming weaker next year. In its two previous tenders, MRPL sold isomer-MX at a discount of $80/mt to the FOB Korea benchmark. Several parcels of Japanese isomer-MX were sold to South Korean producers recently as Japan's gasoline demand season ended and more mixed xylenes became available, market sources said. Despite falling isomer-MX, production margins for the product remain positive with a spread of $195/mt to naphtha at $799.38/mt CFR Japan Friday. Producers typically seek a spread of at least $150/mt between isomer-MX and naphtha. The isomer-MX-naphtha spread has, however, narrowed 35% from a year-to-date high of $299.88/mt on October 14 to $195.13/mt on Friday last week. --Gustav Holmvik, gustav_holmvik@platts.comSimilar stories appear in Asian Petrochemicalscan. See more information at http://www.platts.com/Products/asianpetrochemicalscan