U.S. benzene-to-crude ratio regains ground Sept. 2 after slipping for six days, rising to 1.8905 as spot prices for September benzene were quoted at US$3.92/gallon FOB USG

Alison Gallant

LOS ANGELES , September 2, 2011 (Industry Intelligence) – The U.S. spot market for September benzene saw the benzene-to-crude ratio increase to 1.8905 Sept. 2, regaining some ground after declining for six days as spot prices for benzene were quoted at US$3.92 per gallon free on board U.S. Gulf, Platts reported the same day, citing market sources.

The benzene-to-crude ratio dropped from 1.9904 Aug. 24 to 1.8675 Sept. 1, Platts reported.

By mid-morning Sept. 2, October NYMEX crude futures slipped $1.84/barrel to $87.09/barrel. Offers for September started at $3.99/gallon FOB USG early Aug. 2 and fell to $3.96/gallon FOB USG by the afternoon.

Offers were countered by bids starting at $3.85/gallon FOB USG that rose to $3.90/gallon FOB USG by the afternoon.

A market source told Platts that a possible reason for benzene not tracking crude in the last few days could be that a lot of traders are off early for the upcoming Labor Day holiday.

Nevertheless, benzene-crude ratio has lingered around the 1.9 level for some time, the source added.

Platts noted that the benzene-to-crude ratio held steady over 1.9 for the entire month until Aug. 30.

The primary source of this article is Platts, New York, New York, Sept. 2, 2011.

* All content is copyrighted by Industry Intelligence, or the original respective author or source. You may not recirculate, redistrubte or publish the analysis and presentation included in the service without Industry Intelligence's prior written consent. Please review our terms of use.