Aromatics
Overview
The global aromatics market is made up of several diverse product markets and can be affected by a great many factors.
Benzene is a highly traded and volatile commodity because of its predominantly co-product nature and unpredictable supply. Styrene, benzene’s largest derivative, represents about 50pc of global benzene demand. Anyone involved in the benzene industry – directly or indirectly – needs market and pricing insight to anticipate supply shortages and large swings in pricing.
Meanwhile, the toluene and xylenes isomer markets are intertwined with the global markets for gasoline. Toluene and xylenes are highly traded commodities that create a lot of interest in the industry because of the various factors that affect demand growth. Outside of their inter-relationship with the gasoline markets, the major end-uses for these commodities vary across the world, from polyester fibres and food and beverage packaging to construction. Anyone involved in the toluene and xylenes industries – directly or indirectly – needs insight into how the toluene and xylenes markets can or will impact on their business, from raw material costs or as a price indicator for downstream products.
Our aromatics experts will help you determine what trends to track and how to stay competitive in today’s ever-changing global markets.
Latest aromatics news
Browse the latest market moving news on the global aromatics services industry.
Orlen to close phenol, acetone unit in Poland
Orlen to close phenol, acetone unit in Poland
London, 6 May (Argus) — Polish integrated oil company Orlen said it has decided to end phenol and acetone production at its Plock petrochemicals site by the end of this year. The decision to decommission the 50,000 t/yr phenol unit was mainly because of technical and environmental reasons, Orlen said. The unit also produces about 30,000t of acetone as co-product. "The continued operation of the plant, which has been in operation for nearly 60 years, would necessitate an extensive and costly modernisation," Orlen said, adding that further investments will be needed to comply with tightening EU environmental regulations. The revenue generated from the continued phenol and acetone production at Plock will be inadequate to cover the cost of these investments, Orlen said. The 75,000 t/yr cumene unit, which supplies feedstocks to the phenol unit, at Plock will also close as a consequence. The phenol and acetone markets in Europe have been struggling to cope with high energy costs, overcapacity, weak demand and increased imports, mainly of downstream products from Asia-Pacific. This has led to idling of some phenol and acetone production in Europe. Orlen in July 2024 said it had cancelled long-delayed plans to build a new phenol unit integrated with the 373,000 b/d Plock refinery as part of a site-wide petrochemical expansion project. The plans, which involved building a new cracker, were placed under review later in the year as part of a strategy update because of rising costs and the weak outlook in the petrochemical sector. Orlen pushed back plans to construct the cracker, which has an ethylene capacity of 740,000 t/yr, to "no sooner than 2030." By Monicca Egoy Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Berry, Amcor on track to close merger mid-2025
Berry, Amcor on track to close merger mid-2025
Houston, 19 March (Argus) — Plastic packaging companies Berry Global and Amcor cleared the US anti-trust waiting period last week for their planned merger. Switzerland-based Amcor in November agreed to purchase US-based Berry Global for $8.43bn in an all-stock deal, combining two of the world's largest packaging companies. The combined business will be a global leader in consumer packaging, including flexible film, closures, cartons and containers for food, beverage, pharmaceutical, medical, home and personal-care markets, resulting in consolidation of two of the largest buyers of plastic resins, including polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene, and polyethylene terephthalate. It will have a footprint in 140 countries with approximately 400 production facilities. Various other countries including China and Brazil have also approved the merger, pushing the companies closer to the goal of closing in mid-2025. The merger will combine stocks for both companies. The headquarters will remain in Zurich, Switzerland, but significant presence will continue to be maintained in Evansville, Indiana, the former headquarters of Berry Global. By Savanna Millhausen Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Turkey's Koksan builds $710mn PET plant in China
Turkey's Koksan builds $710mn PET plant in China
Shanghai, 17 March (Argus) — Turkish producer Koksan has started building a $710mn PET project at Yangkou Port in Nantong city, Jiangsu province in March. The project involves a 1mn t/yr PET resin unit, consisting of 800,000 t/yr PET and 200,000 t/yr recycled PET (rPET). Two 200,000 t/yr PET resin production lines will be built in the first phase. By establishing the project at Yangkou Port, the company can fully utilise raw materials such as PTA from Chinese chemicals firm Tongkun's integrated polyester project at Yangkou Port to produce PET sheets. This not only gives Tongkun's PTA project an outlet but also provides cost-effective raw materials for Koksan's project. The project can also leverage the existing inland river port and bulk cargo terminal to source raw materials from Chinese companies such as Sinopec, Sanfangxiang, and Yadong. The Nantong Municipal Government estimates that the Koksan project is expected to achieve annual sales of $2.1bn and generate $52mn in annual tax revenue upon completion. Koksan already planned to invest in China in mid-2024 and it ultimately decided to invest in Nantong's Rudong county, after conducting site evaluations in Dalian city's Changxing Island, Fujian province's Gulei town, and Guangdong province's Huizhou city. Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Japan’s MGC to fund US biomass-based plastic start-up
Japan’s MGC to fund US biomass-based plastic start-up
Tokyo, 13 March (Argus) — Japanese petrochemical producer Mitsubishi Gas Chemical (MGC) announced on 12 March that it decided to invest an undisclosed value in a US biomass-based plastics start-up ReSource Chemical. ReSource Chemical is developing technology to generate furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA), which is a raw monomer used to produce plastic polyethylenefuranoate (PEF), from wooden biomass-based lignocellulose. PEF is expected to replace polyethylene-terephthalate (PET) once a reasonable production method is established, as PEF is likely to have stronger heat-resilience and durability as well as lower gas-transmission rate and moisture permeability than PET. US venture capital funds Khosla Ventures, Fathom Fund and Chevron Technology Ventures and other individual investors also plan to finance ReSource Chemical with MGC. ReSource Chemical will raise $15mn in total. The funds will be used to build a pilot plant to manufacture FDCA. MGC aims to procure furoic acid, which is an intermediate product in ReSource Chemical's FDCA production process. MGC said furoic acid is not currently in use, but the firm will explore potential usage of this biomass-based feedstock in future. Japanese companies have attempted to develop biomass-based plastics for decarbonisation. Domestic trading house Mitsui plans to explore producing 400,000 t/yr bio-PET in the southeastern region of the US, targeting to start output during 2025-2026. By Nanami Oki Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
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