Episode 605: Europe styrene barge contracts rise again for May, spot outlook mixed

Head of market reporting, Barbara Ortner, and markets editor Fergus Jensen, discuss developments in the Europe styrene market following another record settlement in the barge contract price in May.
The seventh consecutive increase in the contract price came as a surprise to many in the market, as spot prices have tumbled by more than a third since their March peak.
Tightness in the European styrene market, that was driven by major plant outages in Europe and the US this year, has largely eased. But recent weeks have seen a lull in styrene spot market activity, bringing styrene spot margins over benzene to low levels.
With maintenance planned and underway at plants both upstream and downstream of the Europe styrene market, what can we expect to see in the coming weeks and what can we look out for?