USD/MT -30 830-840 -30 910-930 37.65-38.10 CFR CHINA MAIN PORT * USD/MT -30 830-840 -30 910-930 37.65-38.10 CFR S.E.ASIA * USD/MT -30 840-850 -30 920-930 38.10-38.56 FOB KOREA + USD/MT -30 820-860 -18 860-910 37.19-39.01 CFR TAIWAN + USD/MT -30 830-870 -20 870-930 37.65-39.46 CFR CHINA MAIN PORT + USD/MT -30 830-870 -20 870-930 37.65-39.46 CFR S.E.ASIA + USD/MT -30 840-880 -20 880-930 38.10-39.92 NOTE: * = Price range at close of business Friday. + = Price range for the week. CONTRACT PRICES Click for Price History Price Range One year ago US CTS/LB CFR ASIA Q1 USD/MT +54 727-727 +54 1123-1123 32.98-32.98 CFR ASIA MAR USD/MT +110 830-830 +110 1170-1170 37.65-37.65 DELIVERED CHINAJAN CNY/MT n/c 5600-5600 n/c n/a-n/a 37.13-37.13 NOTE: For full details on the criteria ICIS pricing uses in making these price assessments visit www.icispricing.com and click on “methodology”. Subscriber note: ICIS pricing is planning to expand the assessment methodology for the FOB Korea spot price assessment in the Paraxylene (Asia Pacific) report to include domestic pipeline deals. Please send any comments or queries to salmon.lee@icis.com . Spot: Paraxylene (PX) spot prices dipped this week, as crude futures trended lower and derivative purified terephthalic acid (PTA) values tumbled. A late-week attempt by a Korean trader-cum-supplier to talk up prices failed to excite an otherwise listless, broader market. Weighted towards the end of the week, prices slipped to $830-840/tonne CFR Taiwan and/or China Main Port (CMP), and $820-830/tonne FOB Korea. Taking into consideration the whole week’s deals, bids and offers, prices were quoted within wider ranges of $830-870/tonne CFR Taiwan and/or CMP and $820-860/tonne FOB Korea. A trader-cum-supplier was heard to have picked up an April cargo at $845/tonne CFR Taiwan and/or CMP with credit terms of 60 days mid-week, while an end-user in China bought at $840/tonne CFR CMP, also for April arrival. Offers subsequently dipped to $830-840/tonne CFR Taiwan and/or CMP for April, but buying interest remained lukewarm given that PTA values had tumbled to $670-680/tonne CFR CMP by the end of the week. Some end-users on both sides of the Taiwan straits said they could consider buying April molecules on par with the March contract price of $830/tonne CFR Asia, but not every seller was willing to let go at that level yet. When it became apparent by Friday that traders’ panic was becoming pandemic, a Korean trader-cum-supplier went on an otherwise barren open-market trading to place bids as high as $845/tonne FOB Korea for April loading. This said market player was believed to be attempting to talk up the market, and most participants said its numbers were not truly representative of prevailing levels. Indeed, with overall aromatics numbers soft on the back of weak crude and naphtha futures, and talk of increased supply of PX going into April, traders still laden with April material were either rushing to cash out of the market or looking to swap their April cargoes to latter months’. To a large extent, such concerns were justified, said the most astute of observers. The Chinese textile and polyester industries were giving way to depressed demand, and orders for made-in-China garments were fast dwindling. Without a robust downstream, PTA prices could test even lower levels soon, said these participants. That could drag down PX numbers as PTA makers streamlined their operating rates, at a time when overall aromatics production had actually climbed higher from the ebb of November last year. Contract: No fresh news emerged on the contract front. Nominations for April’s Asian contract price (ACP) are expected to be out at the end of next week. ACP settlements for 2009. All prices quoted on a per tonne CFR Asia basis and in $: January: 630; February: 720; March: 830 Contract prices finalized in Chinese domestic market in 2009. All prices quoted on a per tonne delivered China basis and in CNY: January: 5,600; February: 6,700 Production news: Korea’s KP Chemical’s 500,000 tonne/year No2 PX unit was restarted on 24 January following a turnaround earlier in the month. Indonesia’s Pertamina will shut its 270,000 tonne/year PX facility in Cilacap from 16 March due to mechanical issues and could resume production in end-March. ORTHO-XYLENE SPOT PRICES Click for Price History Price Range Four weeks ago US CTS/LB CFR N.E. ASIA USD/MT n/c 760-770 n/c 840-850 34.47-34.93 FOB N.E. ASIA USD/MT n/c 730-750 n/c 800-840 33.11-34.02 CFR S.E. ASIA USD/MT n/c 750-770 n/c 810-850 34.02-34.93 CFR INDIA USD/MT n/c 750-770 n/c 810-850 34.02-34.93 Asian orthoxylene (OX) spot prices were notionally assessed stable at the above published ranges amid thin trades. The weaker downstream phthalic anhydride (PA) sector failed to lift market sentiment resulting in buyers to remain cautious. Similarly, sellers were sidelined with no firm offers given that they were in no hurry to offload cargoes due to low inventory levels. Deep-sea offers took a turn this week, with no fresh offers located following last week’s frenzy originating from sources such as Europe and the Middle East. In addition, the majority of producers were mainly focused on the more lucrative paraxylene (PX). With a recovery yet to be witnessed in the downstream PA sector, it remained to be seen if demand would pick-up in the coming weeks as the majority of regional PA plants were heard to be operating at reduced rates of 50-60%. China Notional selling indications into China were pegged at $770/tonne CFR China for 2H March and 1H April cargoes. Buyers, on the other hand, continued to bid at $755-760/tonne CFR China. The bids were rejected by sellers who reiterated that the lower numbers were simply not workable. Meanwhile, in the Chinese domestic market, the languid sentiment continued to rollover from last week. Domestic material were valued at yuan (CNY) 6,300-6,400/tonne ex-tank, down CNY200/tonne week-on-week. Sinopec, China’s market leader, had reduced its list price by CNY200/tonne to CNY6,700-6,800/tonne ex-tank on Sunday. The producer subsequently revised its list price to CNY6,300-6,400/tonne ex-tank on Friday, down by CNY400/tonne, bringing its total price reduction to CNY600/tonne since late last week. Northeast Asia Spot trading in the rest of northeast Asia remained subdued. Buyers mainly in Korea and Taiwan were generally sidelined with no buying interest. End-users were heard to be either sufficiently covered by contracts or continued to favour domestic material. Meanwhile, sellers were focused on more lucrative markets in China and southeast Asia. There were minimal incentive for them to offload material to Taiwan and Korea due to the lower buying indications pegged at around $720/tonne CFR NE Asia. South and Southeast Asia No fixtures could be located this week as buyers and sellers remained locked in prolonged negotiations. In southeast Asia, an end-user was heard to be sufficiently covered till1H April, capping the need to secure spot cargo. Meanwhile, buy-sell discussions in India were largely stable at the above published range. Although a buyer was heard to be looking to book some 3,000 tonnes of prompt material, buying idea remained pegged below $750/tonne CFR India against notional selling indication at $780/tonne CFR India. 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