Copyright 2014 Reed Business Information Limited. ICIS Pricing is a member of the Reed Elsevier plc group.

10th January 2014

Cumene (USA)
Editor Larry Terry, larry.terry@icis.com

Click for Price History

FOB US DEC

CONTRACT PRICES
Price Range
+6.00
+6.00
66.00-67.00

US CTS/LB

One year ago

64.00-66.00

USD/MT
1455.05-1477.10

NOTE: for full details on the criteria ICIS pricing uses in making these price assessments visit www.icispricing.com and
click on methodology.

The US January cumene contract price will be pressured

upward by higher benzene, expected to gain about 4 cents/lb
($88/tonne).

In the downstream acetone market, the US barge contract fully

settled up by 5 cents for December, on confirmation this week
from all of the market participants. In the truck acetone market,
further gains are expected for January, but the level of
increase is still uncertain this early in the month as buyers
have been mulling over proposals that totalled 9-15 cents/lb for
December and January.

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The January benzene contract settled at $4.84/gal, gaining an

average of 35.50 cents/gal from December on tight supply.
The higher settlement, which was in line with market
expectations, was the second consecutive increase for the US
benzene contract.

allowed to restart. The plant is among the two smallest phenol

plants in the US, with less than 27,000 tonnes/year of phenol
production.

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January contract headed higher on benzene

Previously, the December cumene contract was assessed

similarly higher by 5 cents/lb on a strong push from
Decembers benzene contract.
The supply-demand situation remained
downstream demand from phenol.

soft

on

weak

In industry news, the US chemicals industry hopes to get

congressional approval in the new year for a long-needed
modernisation of rules governing control of chemicals in
commerce and an extension for a federal mandate for plant
site security.

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Sources said both must happen by mid-year or risk getting

mired in midterm elections. The president of the American
Chemistry Council (ACC) said he hopes Congress will reach
an agreement early in 2014 on the proposed bipartisan bill
known as the Chemical Safety Improvement Act (CSIA).

The absence of some US phenol volume after a midDecember 2013 unplanned outage at a small phenol plant in
Illinois was expected to exert only limited downward pressure
on the market, however. The plants cumene unit was
damaged in an explosion and fire in which two workers were
also injured.

It was not yet known if or from what source the company might
procure cumene to operate its phenol unit after the plant is

On the broader economic front, the US economy is widely

expected to approach or reach normal growth rates this year,
driven by new energy supplies (shale, for example), a
strengthening global recovery and increasing domestic
consumer demand, the ACC said.
Feedstock
US January benzene spot prices were flat from the previous
session amid thin activity early in the day, sources said. US
benzene supply had been long for much of 2013, but tighter
supply late in the fourth quarter put pressure on spot prices,
which influenced the higher January contract price.
US refinery-grade propylene (RGP) was flat at 63.75 cents/lb,
despite a drop in spot polymer-grade propylene (PGP) prices.
US January contracts are expected to settle at an increase of
3.5-4.5 cents/lb, lower than initial nominations for an increase
of 7.0-7.5 cents/lb, tracking the recent decline in spot PGP.
The initially higher nomination stemmed mostly from tight
supply expected in the wake of the US cracker turnaround
season early this year.

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