Benzene inter-month spread narrows on inventory buildup expectation

Despite the current low inventory of benzene at the ports, there appears to be an accumulation trend on the price chart. Moreover, an estimated 60,000 to 70,000 tons of benzene are expected to arrive at the ports before mid-December. Due to the restart of PetroChina Sichuan Petrochemical and certain downstream production adjustments, the factory pickups from the ports are expected to decrease, leading to a slower pace of withdrawals. Additionally, there is an anticipation of inventory accumulation in December, and a disparity between spot prices and the December futures market. Import traders may seek to advance their December shipment schedules to take advantage of the price differentials, potentially causing continued inventory buildup at the ports.

Given the accumulation of inventory and the weaker supply and demand expectations for December, the spread between spot benzene and December benzene is narrowing.