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Editor Mark Victory, mark.victory@icis.com
NOTE: For full details on the criteria ICIS pricing uses in making these price assessments visit www.icispricing.com and click on “methodology”.
European March paraffin wax prices generally rolled over as the sluggish market demand capped price increases brought by a stronger US dollar and a rally in upstream crude prices.
The Easter festival provided little support in pushing demand for candle buying. Market players described the overall demand as weak with no supply issues.
52-54°C domestic grade settled for March at €840-935/tonne FD NWE, while 56-58 °C grade settled at €910-990/tonne. 60-62°C grade, however, came down to €950-1,000/tonne from €1,000-1,050/tonne a month ago on slower demand.
European origin spot prices were assessed unchanged at $1,283-1,383/tonne CIF NEW due to the factors mentioned above.
Chinese origin spot prices also stayed unchanged at $1,350-1,450/tonne CIF NWE. Market activities were slowly picking up after the Lunar New Year holidays.
Russian material continued to trade at €800-880/tonne FOB Poland/Belarus border, the supply tightness resulting from transportation disruptions was gradually resolved as the weather conditions improved, sources said.
Slackwax prices remained steady at €550-600/tonne FD NWE, due to balanced market fundamentals, sources said.
Upstream, April Brent crude on London’s ICE futures exchange was up largely on a softer US dollar. It traded at around $79.00/bbl on Wednesday afternoon, having hit a high of $79.14/bbl, which was a gain of $0.96/bbl from the previous close.
(€1 = $1.36)
This week on ICIS news ( www.icis.com):
02-03-10 08:19 S Korea's YNCC buys 75,000t naphtha for H1 April; seeks more
02-03-10 18:32 US crude futures surge over $2/bbl on currency, refined products
02-03-10 07:41 Asian glycerine prices kick off on strong note for March
(Covering Editor: Vinicy Chan)
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