Benzene prices go down by 15 per cent

Vijay Trivedi

Mumbai, April 11: BENZENE prices have gone down by around 15 per cent in the domestic market in the wake of the continuous slide in crude oil prices in the last few months.

On April 11, in the domestic market, benzene was quoted at around Rs 18,000 per mt, down from Rs 21,300 per mt quoted last month. While in the international market, price of Benzene is sliding down by around 20 per cent. At present, it is being quoted at $520 mt, down from $625 per mt quoted last month.

The traders said that poor offtake and low demand contributed to the decline in prices.

They fear that benzene prices will go down by 10-15 per cent further in next couples of days, depending on the international crude price.

A leading chemical trader said: “Recently, all the leading domestic manufacturers have reduced the price by 15 per cent and they may further reduce the price by around 10 per cent due to sluggish demand.”

The product is mainly used in detergents, solvents, ethylbensene, styrene, nitrobenzene, aniline, etc. Major domestic producers are Indian Oil Corporation, Bharat Petroleum, Reliance Industries, Kochin refineries and NOCIL.

A leading importer commented: “Demand for benzene has come down due to the decline in demand for the downstream products of benzene like Phenol and styrene in both domestic as well as international markets.’’