Styrene: supply and demand change

Recently, market participants said that with the commissioning of several new styrene production capacity in China and the resumption of production in some of the shutdown units in Europe and the United States, the balance of supply and demand in the global styrene market in 2022 may change

It is reported that due to the successive commissioning of several new styrene production capacity projects in China, it is expected that by the first quarter of 2022, there will be a large surplus of styrene in China

In India, demand remains subdued until the end of January 2022

The downstream ABS and polystyrene (PS) markets are likely to remain weak in the first half of 2022 due to rising upstream styrene supply and uncertain end-user demand, market players said

US market demand will strengthen

Styrene demand in the US domestic and export markets will rebound in the first half of 2022 after a weaker market in December 2021, as buyers look to rebuild following a decline in US styrene load rates since Hurricane Ida made landfall on August 29 stock

A trader said that in December 2021, merchants worked hard to reduce inventories, and styrene demand remained seasonally slow in the fourth quarter of 2021

According to global Platts data, from October 7 to November 9, 2021, the styrene production load rate in North America was 70% to 76%

Market participants said the U.

　　European stocks to rebuild

　　In Europe, styrene monomer inventories are set to recover following a massive production outage in the fourth quarter of 2021

　　Higher winter energy prices in Europe could also support wider spreads due to gas shortages

　　In the downstream ABS market, high freight rates and unreliable delivery dates continue to keep prices high despite expected imports from Asia

　　The direction of the polystyrene market is also uncertain this year, and buyers' restocking activity will be influenced by producers' precise supply allocations