India’s m-Xylene Offers Stagger Upwards In Rangebound

New Delhi: Indian domestic market has been continuously witnessing a marginal uptrend in the m-Xylene values. The growing demand from the downstream manufacturing industries coupled with the rising inflation resulted in the inclining price trend. The fluctuating upstream Crude prices are another reason for the slight uptrend.

The price of m-Xylene in the Indian domestic market increased by 0.3% on 12th August, backed up by the erratic upstream Crude oil prices. Russia’s Oil export to India at a discounted price has led to volatility in the Crude oil prices in the domestic market. Whereas Japan, the major exporter of m-Xylene, is also witnessing uncertainties regarding the upstream Crude Oil futures, making it difficult for the manufacturers to control the m-Xylene values. Moreover, the Indian traders were also following the factory price, resulting in an upward price trend of m-Xylene.  

Additionally, the demand for the downstream derivatives Isophthalic acid, used in producing Polyethylene Terephthalate, gained strength. Hence, the makers were eagerly involved in producing Isophthalic acid, ushering in escalating demand for m-Xylene. Also, the requirement for PET bottles from the downstream packaging sectors is rising, as the request from the consumer side is soaring. Therefore, high inventories coupled with healthy purchasing activities have led to the surging price trend of m-Xylene.

Since the beginning of Russia and Ukraine, Japan has faced a tight supply of Crude due to the sanctions, leading them to purchase Crude from UAE at a high price, which led to high petrol and diesel prices. Thus, the cost of imported cargoes from Japan is high due to the rising freight charges.

According to the ChemAnalysts latest analysis, m-Xylene prices will likely inflate in the coming weeks. The demand from the downstream sectors might increase due to healthy purchasing activities. Besides, the global upstream Crude requirement may increase, resulting in the insufficient availability of the product and might lead to a price hike. Furthermore, an expected rise in the freight charges can also trigger the m-Xylene market.