China's benzene inventory drops to a 7-year low

Benzene inventory in East China main ports has dropped to a seven-year low of around 15.6kt on July 27, 2022. The previous lowest level was around 16.5kt in early July 2014. The inventory level fell below 100kt since mid-May due to less imports as CFR China prices remained higher than China domestic prices.

China domestic benzene price has been lower than imported price for a few months, as the rise in domestic market could not catch up the rapid increases in international markets. This also led to less imports in the past three months and lower inventory in East China.

China's benzene imports fell below 300kt since April 2022. CFR China benzene, covered to yuan price, was higher than domestic yuan benzene in June. The price spread widened to an average of 600yuan/mt. Discussions in CFR China cargoes muted and some downstream plants even cancelled contracts. In Jul, benzene imports were expected to increase fractionally, but still remained low at around 200-250kt.