US cumene prices rebounded during end of January 2026, with FOB Louisiana prices increasing due to rising feedstock costs, supply interruptions and better downstream demand. Higher benzene price also strengthened the production cost, which made producers less flexible and further supported the upside adjustment. Simultaneously, brutal winter storms led to multiple force majeure declarations at major Gulf Coast facilities run by Flint Hills Resources, CITGO, Shell and Marathon Petroleum, exacerbating tightness in the spot market even though the outages were brief. Strong downstream support to fundamentals. Following the New Year holiday, the domestic downstream acetone market ran up strongly while inventories in the phenol market declined and prices rose due to cost factors. Planned maintenance before the Spring Festival decreased effective phenol and acetone production capacity and drove producers to pick up more cumene feedstock. All of these elements translated into balanced-to-tight market conditions, hence cumene prices recovered gradually and remained well supported to the start of February, says ChemAnalyst.
Selenis has effectively manufactured recycled PET chips using terephthalic acid sourced from Circ®, a textile-to-textile recycler based in Virginia. The chip production took place through a series of batches at Selenis' pilot plant in San-Giorgio, Italy. By utilizing inputs recovered from polycotton textile waste, Selenis has created high-quality PET chip, which has been further processed into DTY yarn. This yarn will play a crucial role in product development as Circ prepares for additional capsule launches. Selenis is leveraging the success of this initial collaboration phase and is committed to advancing towards an offtake partnership to support Circ's inaugural industrial facility.
Eduardo Santos, Head of Corporate Strategy at Selenis, remarked that the monomer synthesis showed a performance comparable to virgin terephthalic acid. He expressed optimism about the consistent quality of Circ's monomer output and anticipated future commercial success. Santos pointed out that the Circ partnership complements Selenis's existing mission and goals for a more sustainable textile industry. He further stated their anticipation of expanding upon this collaboration and providing support for Circ's forthcoming commercial production trials.
