Great Changes in South Korea Benzene Export

SCI99

2019-07-09

Great Changes in South Korea Benzene Export

Benzene FOB South Korea prices kept hovering at highs, amid strong demand in the U.S. Therefore, more and more South Korea-origin benzene flowed into the U.S. for arbitrage.

South Korea exported 70kt of benzene to China in May, down 50kt from April and 120kt from March. With U.S. gulf prices keeping rising, the spread between the U.S. and Asia reached USD 180/mt, and the arbitrage space was even as high as USD 135/mt or so. Therefore, lots of South Korea-origin benzene flowed into the U.S. In the first quarter of this year, South Korea exported 77% and 12% of benzene to China and the U.S. After the arbitrage window was opened, South Korea exported 37% of benzene to the U.S.