Chemicals Updates

Asian Styrene Monomer: Market softens on domestic demand woes / China port inventories fall 21,500 mt / Japan cracker rates hit record low 67.3%

May 25, 2026

The styrene monomer CFR China and FOB Korea markers at $1,254/metric ton and $1,279/mt, respectively, May 22, down $10/mt day over day, tracking the domestic China market. The June EB2606 SM futures contract listed on the Dalian Commodity Exchange dropped Yuan 82/mt to Yuan 9,418/mt May 22 as of the afternoon trading session at 3:00 pm Beijing time. “Styrene prices are lower as the focus has returned to poorer domestic demand,” a China-based trader said. Downstream, demand has been slow given softer end-user demand, regional market participants told throughout the week. Still, overall operating rates of downstream facilities in China ticked up 0.57% week over week to 50.46% on May 21, according to estimates from a China-based trade source. Elsewhere, the Southeast Asian market has been relatively stable, two market...

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