Styrene prices have been declining due to bearish regional demand from the downstream such as food packaging, plastics, home, and appliance insulations, especially in the Asia Pacific region. Styrene is manufactured from benzene and ethylene by the process of alkylation. According to ChemAnalyst data, Styrene prices dropped by 2.4% this week and assembled at USD 1660/Tonne, FOB Texas USA.

The increased crude oil prices have led to the hiked production cost of feed benzene due to the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine and increased shipping prices. Styrene offered in Asia Pacific regions such as South Korea, China and India saw slight variations in the prices leading to a decrease in demand even with sufficient supply availability of benzene and ethylene among the manufacturers. The demand and supply of a few downstream Polystyrene manufacturers have declined predominantly because downstream industries like packaging have forced the manufacturers to cater to the previous demand from the end-users. With the outbreak of the Omicron virus and implementation of strict lockdown in China, one of the significant plastic manufacturing companies was temporarily shut down in March, declining the production of Polystyrene in the country. European countries will also be facing declination in the prices of Styrene this week. Polypropylene, being used as an alternative to Polystyrene, has reduced the demand for Polystyrene globally, resulting in the shrinkage of Styrene prices.

As per ChemAnalyst, the prices of Styrene will increase in the upcoming weeks as the prices of feed and benzene are expected to shoot up. The supply and demand variations may bring about turmoil in the prices of Styrene.