Styrene monomer prices trend downward in Asia

On Tuesday, despite bullish energy values, SM prices were assessed lower in Asia, as per Polymerupdate.

An industry source in Asia informed a Polymerupdate team member, "Prices were assessed lower on the back of weak buying activity in the Asian markets."

The source added, "Bearish upstream benzene values further contributed to the pricing downtrend."

On Tuesday, FOB Korea SM prices were assessed at the USD 860-870/mt levels, a drop of USD (-10/mt) from Monday.

CFR China SM prices were assessed at the USD 870-880/mt levels, a fall of USD (-10/mt) from Monday?s assessed levels.

Meanwhile, upstream benzene prices on Tuesday were assessed at the USD 695-705/mt FOB Korea levels, day on day down USD (-5/mt).

In plant news, BASF-YPC has brought its Styrene monomer (SM) plant on stream in end May 2025 following a turnaround. The plant was shut on April 8, 2025 for maintenance. Located in Jiangsu, China, the SM plant has a production capacity of 120,000 mt/year.

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Hungarian energy company MVM CEEnergy is negotiating a long-term natural gas supply contract with Azerbaijan, the company's CEO Gabor Orban said at the Baku Energy Forum on Wednesday, as per Interfax.

"We became the first Central European trading company to purchase and physically deliver Azerbaijani gas to Hungary via pipeline. While this was a short-term agreement, we view it as strategic partnership. We're now working on a long-term deal with the State Oil Company of the Azerbaijani Republic (SOCAR)," he said.

MVM previously signed 30-year contracts, but now considers 5-15 year agreements as long-term, Orban said.

Hungary relies on pipeline gas as a landlocked country, but MVM is actively diversifying its portfolio, he said. "We're certainly interested in new gas source diversification opportunities," he said.

However, infrastructure constraints limit supply growth, Orban said. "The Southern Gas Corridor requires expansion, including doubling the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP)'s capacity from 10 to 20 billion cubic meters. Bottlenecks exist in Bulgaria-Serbia and Serbia-Hungary interconnectors. All these interconnectors need upgrades," he said.

He expressed hope for EU support in implementing similar infrastructure projects. "It can be said that gas has returned to the agenda - it's no longer taboo. The question isn't abandoning gas, but maintaining its role in the energy balance. The main thing is whether the EU can back these infrastructure investments," he said.

As reported, SOCAR and MVM CEEnergy signed a supply contract for 100 million cubic meters of gas in June 2023, with physical deliveries starting in April 2024.

MVM Group holds 5% in the Shah Deniz project and 4% in SCPC, the operator of the South Caucasus Pipeline.

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Evonik Industries AG said it will continue to optimize its global methionine production setup for its DL-methionine in the third and fourth quarter of 2025, as per Chemweek.

It said implementation of several technical measures requires a shutdown of the production facilities for methionine and its precursors for 6-7 weeks each at Evonik's Jurong Island, Singapore site in August/September and at its Antwerp, Belgium, site in September/October 2025.

In Singapore, the maintenance schedule of a raw material supplier necessitates an early shutdown in third quarter. Evonik will synchronize this with the catalyst exchange in its methionine production and will improve the energy efficiency and CO2 emissions of the plant.

In Antwerp, Evonik will also combine a catalyst exchange with the continuation of the measures that begun in May to reduce nitrogen, sulphur and CO2 emissions. During the shutdown of the methionine facilities for 6-7 weeks in September and October, the Evonik Antwerp site will implement further milestones from its climate roadmap and make the site’s utilities infrastructure fit for the future.

The company last year completed an expansion of its DL-methionine plant at Jurong Island.

Methionine is an essential amino acid used as an animal feed supplement.

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TotalEnergies , a participants in the project to develop the Absheron gas condensate field in Azerbaijan's sector of the Caspian Sea, has begun implementing the second phase of the project, the head of the French company's division in Azerbaijan, Emmanuel de Guillebon said at a Baku energy forum, as per Interfax.

He said the concept for the project calls for underwater production with the drilling of three or four additional wells and construction of a 140-km pipeline to the terminal in Sangachal.

There are plans to build a new gas processing plant near the terminal, he said. A key element of the project will be a multiphase pipeline that will carry gas and condensate together, which makes it possible to use pipe with lower heat insulation and essentially cut construction costs by half, Guillebon said.

The director of asset management at XRG, Bassem Tadros said at the forum that this project is just the beginning, as discussions are underway on new projects with SOCAR and other partners and progress is expected in the coming months. XRG is an international investment arm of United Arab Emirates state oil and gas company ADNOC, which also has a stake in the Absheron project.

The company is considering increasing investment in Azerbaijan, which it sees not only has a country with a wealth of oil and gas resources, but also one that is ideally suited for developing renewable energy sources, from geothermal energy to biomass, Tadros said.

The president of State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR), Rovshan Najaf met in Baku with Tadros and TotalEnergies senior vice president for Europe Jean-Luc Guiziou.

"We discussed our ongoing joint projects, particularly the full-scale development of the Absheron gas-condensate field. We also exchanged views on renewable energy, decarbonization, innovative technologies, and other issues of mutual interest," Najaf posted on Linkedin.

It was reported earlier that the second phase of Absheron's development will at least double gas production at the field to 3 billion cubic meters per year from the 1.5 bcm being produced in the first phase. Gas produced under the first phase is intended for Azerbaijan's domestic market.

TotalEnergies and SOCAR announced the start of production under the first phase of the Absheron field's development in July 2023. First-phase production peaked at 1.5 bcm in 2024. It was previously expected that production under the project could peak at 5.5 bcm-6 bcm per year.

The Absheron project was initially equally owned by SOCAR and TotalEnergies, but in August 2023 they each agreed to sell a 15% stake to Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), giving the latter a 30% stake and reducing their interests to 35% each.

The Absheron block is located 100 km from Baku at a depth of 500 meters, with the contract area covering 747 square km. The initial estimate put the field's reserves at 350 bcm of gas and 100 million tonnes of condensate. The field is being developed in stages under a 30-year contract by the Joint Operating Company of Absheron Petroleum B.V. (JOCAP).

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Yara ASA has signed offtake agreements with two Indian renewable ammonia producers, ACME Cleantech Solutions Ltd. and AM Green Ltd., for them to supply a total of 500,000 metric tons per year of renewable ammonia to Europe at an FOB India price of less than $680 per metric ton, industry sources told Platts this week, as per Chemweek.

Sources said that Yara has signed a binding offtake agreement with AM Green, building on their term sheet signed in 2024. According to the term sheet, Yara was to offtake 50% of the renewable ammonia from Phase 1 of AM Green’s electrolytic ammonia facility at Kakinada, India.

Market sources told Platts that the binding offtake agreement has been signed for a 250,000 metric tons per year renewable ammonia supply to Europe for 15 years at a price of less than $680 per metric ton FOB India on a fixed price basis.

AM Green Ammonia made a final investment decision in 2024 on its 1 million metric tons per year Kakinada renewable ammonia project, which has offtake term sheet agreements with European and Asian companies, including Uniper SE, Yara and Keppel Ltd.

The Kakinada plant is set to begin production of renewable ammonia in 2027. Similarly, ACME is reported to have signed a term sheet with Yara for the supply of 250,000 metric tons per year of renewable ammonia from its Gopalpur, India plant for a tenure of 15 years at a price of $680 per metric ton on a declining price basis.

A European buyer who confirmed the deals said they are receiving renewable ammonia offers from India in a range of $700-$800 per metric ton FOB. Another source who reported the AM Green deal confirmed that not many producers can achieve a price point of less than $700 per metric ton for 15 years.

Although the price for each deal is similar, the pricing basis for the agreements differs. The source reporting the ACME deal said, “A declining price with five-year blocks is a more acceptable approach for buyers.” The ACME deal allows front-loading of the contract, facilitating capital cost recovery in the initial phase of the contract tenure.

The source added that Yara has the option to procure the renewable ammonia from either of ACME’s plants in India and Oman, depending on the geographical proximity to the demand region. While India is closer to Asia, Oman would be better suited to supply Europe, but the price would remain the same.

ACME signed a term sheet agreement with Yara in 2024 for supply from their Duqm, Oman renewable ammonia plant and has non-binding agreements with IHI and IFFCO from their plant in Odisha state, India.

The Duqm and Odisha plants are expected to be commissioned by 2027.

A source negotiating with Yara on the supply of renewable ammonia added, “Yara is still active in the market and might sign similar deals from other regions.” Another source was surprised to hear of this deal finalizing, saying that they had been offering a lower price to Yara than the one agreed with ACME and AM Green but for a tenure of 30 years.

Yara declined to comment beyond what it has already said publicly. ACME and AM Green have been contacted for comment. Platts assessed Middle East renewable-derived ammonia delivered into northwest Europe at $838 per metric ton June 2.

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