London — EU exports of toluene dropped 45% in April to 29,253 mt from 52,984 mt inMarch as the arbitrage to the US became difficult to work, the latest Eurostatdata show.
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Register NowOutflows to the US fell to 12,588 mt in April, down 69% from 40,397 mtthe previous month.
Trans-Atlantic export interest had gained momentum in March because ofnumerous refinery turnarounds in the US Gulf Coast region, leading tosubstantial price jumps in the region's gasoline and blending componentmarkets as a supply crunch developed.
But the arbitrage became difficult to work as refineries restarted andturned market sentiment bearish in the US. Some traders and producers remainedoptimistic and shipped volumes from Europe ahead of the summer driving seasonin the US.
Meanwhile, toluene exports in the January-April period were up 15% at134,256 mt from 116,489 mt in the same period of 2017.
--Sam Hashmi, sam.hashmi@spglobal.com
--Edited by Jennifer Pedrick, jennifer.pedrick@spglobal.com