Global spot styrene markets open 2025 on divergent paths

Global styrene prices have shown a mixed trend over the past week as markets were in flux amid New Year festivities and slightly fluctuating oil futures. Spot styrene prices in Asia stood at their lowest level since early December 2023 at the time of writing, while European and US styrene offers rose to their highest level since mid-October 2024, according to ChemOrbis Price Wizard data. Varying supply-demand dynamics played a role in opposite trends while they outweighed cost factors in most cases.

Asian styrene hovers around a one-year low

In Asia, spot prices stood at their lowest level since breaking below the $1000/ton threshold at the beginning of December 2023. Despite the weekly gains in crude oil and naphtha prices, increased supply following the restart of Zhejiang Petroleum & Chemical’s SM unit in China has weighed on the market so far.

Disregarding the recent stability in the market amid the Christmas and New Year holidays, which resulted in limited price discussions, falling benzene prices also pulled spot styrene prices down. Accordingly, spot benzene prices in Asia traded at or even below the $900/ton threshold, marking the lowest level since mid-November 2024.

Firmer oil and limited supply outweigh Christmas lull in Europe and US

On the contrary to the weak Asian market, where styrene prices have traded within a narrow range over the recent weeks, spot styrene offers in Europe mostly maintained their bull run since bottoming out in late November, underpinned by supply constraints. Indeed, the spot market moved above the $1000/ton FOB NWE mark, fueled by the weekly gains in crude oil prices.

Moreover, the impact of rising benzene prices and an ongoing turnaround at LyondellBasell’s Dutch unit (680,000 tons/year) supported the bullish sentiment. Accordingly, spot styrene prices sharply increased by $130/ton on the week to be reported by traders at $1100/ton FOB NWE. Although values softened a bit early this week, the market still pointed to the highest level since late October 2024, as per ChemOrbis data.

The contract markets mirrored soaring spot benzene and styrene prices in the region. The January benzene contract settled with an increase of €45/ton ($47/ton) from December. Following suit, January styrene contract settled with an increase of €36/ton ($37/ton) month over month.

When it comes to the US, rising crude oil prices propelled the styrene market higher, let alone the impact of production hiccups in the region, outweighing the Christmas lull. INEOS Styrolution’s styrene plant in Canada has been shut down since late April 2024, data from ChemOrbis Production News Pro revealed.

At the time of writing, WTI (NYMEX) crude oil futures were trading near $74/barrel, while Brent crude oil prices hovered around at $77/barrel, both up on the day. Both benchmarks stood at their highest levels since October 2024.