Chemicals, Aromatics
May 28, 2026
Platts to launch new US Benzene Contract Price assessment
HIGHLIGHTS
New Platts Benzene Contract Price to complement existing industry settlement
Current Benzene CP (PHAAD00) to be renamed as Benzene Industry-Settled CP
Platts, part of S&P Global Energy, will launch a new Benzene monthly contract price assessment for the US market to complement the existing industry-settled monthly contract price (PHAAD00), effective June 26, 2026.
Platts first proposed the new US Benzene Contract Price Assessment May 12, 2026, in a subscriber note available here.
The assessment will be a simple average of Platts daily DDP USGC (Houston-Texas City) spot assessments within a specified 10-day contract price trading window during the prevailing contract month. A clear and transparent methodology, echoing existing industry approach, will offer market participants a robust and consistent way to gauge the value of benzene deliveries under long-term contract agreements.
The industry-settled contract price is currently based on the average price of deals concluded across the US Gulf Coast during the 10-day window, according to market feedback.
For example, the July CP assessment will be the average of the daily Platts Benzene DDP USGC M2 (AAWDB00) assessments from June 12-25 inclusive and the daily Platts Benzene DDP USGC M1 (AAWDA00) assessments for June 26.
This approach reflects the average of the daily spot values for July delivery assessments over 10 business days preceding the last two business days of the month and accounts for the Platts calendar-month roll, which occurs 5 calendar days prior to the end of the month.
Breakdown of the assessments used for the July CP assessment example:
| June 12th | June 15th | June 16th | June 17th | June 18th | June 19th | June 22nd | June 23rd | June 24th | June 25th | June 26th | July – Platts USG Benzene Contract Price | July Industry-settled Benzene Contract Price |
|
AAWDB00 M2 July DDP |
AAWDB00 M2 July DDP |
AAWDB00 M2 July DDP |
AAWDB00 M2 July DDP |
AAWDB00 M2 July DDP |
US HOLIDAY |
AAWDB00 M2 July DDP |
AAWDB00 M2 July DDP |
AAWDB00 M2 July DDP |
AAWDB00 M2 July DDP |
AAWDA00 M1 July DDP |
Average of the ten respective spot prices | Industry-Settled CP |
The assessment will be databased on the final day of the contract trading window. Using the example above, the July Benzene CP assessment would be databased end-of-day June 26 against July 1.
Platts will also rename its existing industry-settled Benzene CP (PHAAD00) to Benzene Industry-Settled CP, alongside the launch of the new CP assessment.
A full list of the additions and changes are below:
| Symbol | Existing Symbol Description | New Symbol Description | Databased date | Published date |
| PUSBC00 | New | Platts US Benzene Contract Price | Final day of contract trading window | 1st working day of the specified month |
| PHAAD00 | Benzene CP | Benzene Industry-Settled CP | Upon confirmation of settlement | 1st working day of the specified month |
Platts benzene assessments in the US are published on S&P Global Energy Core, in Europe and Americas Petrochemicalscan and on Petrochemical Alert fixed pages PCA0321, PCA0434, PCA0448.
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