

Aromatics
Overview
The global aromatics market is made up of several diverse product markets and can be affected by a great many factors.
Benzene is a highly traded and volatile commodity because of its predominantly co-product nature and unpredictable supply. Styrene, benzene’s largest derivative, represents about 50pc of global benzene demand. Anyone involved in the benzene industry – directly or indirectly – needs market and pricing insight to anticipate supply shortages and large swings in pricing.
Meanwhile, the toluene and xylenes isomer markets are intertwined with the global markets for gasoline. Toluene and xylenes are highly traded commodities that create a lot of interest in the industry because of the various factors that affect demand growth. Outside of their inter-relationship with the gasoline markets, the major end-uses for these commodities vary across the world, from polyester fibres and food and beverage packaging to construction. Anyone involved in the toluene and xylenes industries – directly or indirectly – needs insight into how the toluene and xylenes markets can or will impact on their business, from raw material costs or as a price indicator for downstream products.
Our aromatics experts will help you determine what trends to track and how to stay competitive in today’s ever-changing global markets.
Latest aromatics news
Browse the latest market moving news on the global aromatics services industry.
BP puts Gelsenkirchen refinery in Germany up for sale
BP puts Gelsenkirchen refinery in Germany up for sale
Hamburg, 6 February (Argus) — BP said today it will begin seeking buyers for its Ruhr Oel business, which includes the 257,800 b/d Gelsenkirchen refinery and an associated petrochemicals plant in western Germany. The UK company hopes to reach a sales agreement in 2025, although the exact timing will depend on approval of local competition authorities, it said. The sale should have no affect on short-term supply of oil products in western Germany as the refinery will keep up normal production in the interim, the company said in a press release. BP had said it planned to downsize Gelsenkirchen , shutting four unitsand reducing its crude capacity by a third. The shutdown of the affected units is scheduled for the end of the 2025 and will go ahead, BP told Argus . Potential buyers are not yet known. BP is the latest in a series of companies looking to sell or reduce their refinery shares in Germany. Shell is still searching for a buyer for its 37.5pc stake in the PCK consortium's 226,000 b/d Schwedt refinery, in eastern Germany, after a sale to UK energy firm Prax fell through in late December. Shell was also in discussions to sell its 32.25pc stake in the Miro's consortium's 310,000 b/d Karlsruhe refinery to czech company MERO CR in 2024, which did not result in a sales agreement. Shell is further on track to shut down the Wesseling plant at its 334,000 b/d Rhineland refinery complex. Russian state-controlled Rosneft intends to sell its German subsidiaries, Rosneft Deutschland and RN Refining & Marketing, which are held under the trusteeship of the Federal Network Agency. These assets include a controlling stake in the PCK joint venture, a 24pc share in the Miro's consortium and a 28.6pc share in the Bayernoil joint venture, operator of the 207,000 b/d Neustadt-Vohburg refinery in Bavaria. ExxonMobil announced its intention to sell its 25pc stake in the Karlsruhe refinery to Austria's Alcmene, a subsidiary of Estonia's Liwathon, in 2023. The sale fell through in July 2024 after a German court upheld a ruling banning the company from selling its stakes in the Miro consortium following an injunction filed by Shell. BP also operates the 95,000 b/d Lingen refinery in western Germany. This is unaffected by the sale plan for Gelsenkirchen. By Natalie Müller Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Viewpoint: North American BZ, SM output to dip in 2025
Viewpoint: North American BZ, SM output to dip in 2025
Houston, 2 January (Argus) — North American benzene (BZ) and derivative styrene monomer (SM) production and operating rates may decline in 2025 as production costs climb. SM and derivative output will likely see a drop due to the permanent closure of a SM plant in Sarnia and an acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) plant in Ohio. In 2024, SM operating rates averaged about 71-72pc of capacity, up by 1-2 percentage points from the year prior, according to Argus data. In 2025, operating rates are expected to pull back closer to 70pc due to lackluster underlying demand, offsetting the impact of the two plant closures. Many SM producers on the US Gulf coast are entering 2025 at reduced rates due to high variable production cash costs against the SM spot price. The BZ contract price and higher ethylene prices recently pushed up production costs for SM producers. A heavy upstream ethylene cracker turnaround season in early 2025 will keep derivative SM production costs elevated in Louisiana, stifling motivation for some downstream SM operators to run at normal rates. Gulf coast BZ prices typically fall when SM demand is weak. But imports from Asia are projected to decline, leading to tighter supply in North America that could keep BZ prices elevated. BZ imports from Asia are expected to decline in 2025 because of fewer arbitrage opportunities, as Asia and US BZ prices are expected to remain near parity in the first half of the year. The import arbitrage from South Korea to the Gulf coast was closed for much of the fourth quarter of 2024. Prices in Asia have garnered support because of demand from China for BZ and derivatives, as well as from aromatics production costs in the region that have increased alongside higher naphtha prices. In January-October 2024, over 60pc of US BZ imports originated from northeast Asia, according to Global Trade Tracker data. Losing any portion of those imports typically tightens the US market and drives up domestic demand for BZ. But tighter BZ supply due to lower imports may be mitigated by SM producers, if they continue to run at reduced rates in 2025. The US Gulf coast is around 100,000 metric tonnes (t) net short monthly on BZ, but market sources say the soft SM demand outlook for 2025 will cut US BZ import needs almost in half. Despite fewer BZ imports to North America, reduced SM consumption could hamper run rates for BZ production from selective toluene disproportionation (STDP) unit operators. The biggest obstacle for STDP operators in 2025 will like be paraxylene (PX) demand. Since STDP units produce BZ alongside PX, there needs to be domestic demand for PX. But demand has been weak due to PX imports and derivative polyethylene terephthalate (PET). STDP operations increased at the end 2025 after running at at minimum rates or being idled since 2022. This came as BZ prices consistently eclipsed feedstock toluene prices. The BZ to feedstock nitration-grade toluene spread averaged 30.5¢/USG in 2024 and the BZ to feedstock commercial-grade toluene (CGT) spread averaged 49.25¢/USG, according to Argus data. This means that for much of the year STDP operators could justify running units at higher rates to produce more BZ and PX. But another challenge to consider on STDP run rates in 2025 is the value of toluene for gasoline blending compared to its value for chemical production. In 2022 and 2023, the toluene value into octanes was higher than going into an STDP for BZ and PX production. Feedstock toluene imports are poised to fall in 2025, a factor that would narrow STDP margins and further hamper on-purpose benzene production in the US in 2025. By Jake Caldwell Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Korea to impose anti-dumping duty on Chinese PET resin
Korea to impose anti-dumping duty on Chinese PET resin
Shanghai, 21 October (Argus) — The Korea Trade Commission (KTC) has recommended that the Ministry of Economy and Finance (Moef) impose anti-dumping duties on polyethylene terephthalate (PET) resin from China, with an implementation period of five years. The affected products are classified under South Korea's tariff code 3907.61.0000. KTC recommended a rate ranging from 7-7.98pc, with this decision in line with market expectations. Chinese producer Jiangsu Ceville applied for the exclusion of recycled PET from the scope of the investigation, but the South Korean government ultimately denied this request. Moef in July announced the decision to impose provisional anti-dumping duties on the affected products for a period of four months, effective until 29 November. This came after KTC issued a positive preliminary ruling that recommended the imposition of provisional anti-dumping duties on the involved enterprises. KTC had started an anti-dumping investigation into the PET resin produced in China on 12 January. South Korean company TK Chemical had filed an anti-dumping investigation request with KTC in November 2023, citing losses to the relevant domestic industry because of the dumping of Chinese PET resin. Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
BZ Credits near 5 year high after 2023 blending
BZ Credits near 5 year high after 2023 blending
Houston, 12 September (Argus) — Higher volumes of ethylbenzene (EB) into gasoline blending a year ago has led to a credit shortage, pushing prices to their highest levels since March 2021. In 2022 and 2023, US Gulf coast (USGC) naphtha inventories were long as US naphtha exports declined from 400,000-500,000b/d pre-pandemic to 100,000-200,000b/d. Over the same span of time, refiners and blenders dropped excess naphtha, a sub-octane blendstock, into the gasoline pool. This blend of gasoline spurred demand for high-octane blendstocks like EB, toluene and mixed xylenes into gasoline blending. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) requires gasoline with benzene content above a certain threshold to be offset by a credit generated by refining compliant gasoline. The elevated blending of EB exhausted the supply of benzene credits on the open market, which bled into 2024. Credits traded near 100¢/USG early in 2024 and rose to as high as 190¢/USG over the summer. Values now span buyer interest at 160¢/USG and seller interest at 190¢/USG. The compliance deadline for benzene credit submission is set for 31 March 2025, in which refiners must mass-balance their production over a given year and either face a credit surplus for being over-compliant or a shortage and therefore will need to procure credits on the open market. By Jake Caldwell and Matthew Cope Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
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