What drives mixed benzene supply and demand in China's aromatics chain?

What drives mixed benzene supply and demand in China's aromatics chain?
Mixed benzene sits at the intersection of China's massive aromatics expansion. Pure benzene capacity was set to approach 22 million tonnes per year with over 3.4 million tonnes of new capacity, while toluene and mixed xylene added 2.96 million and 5.37 million tonnes respectively. Much of that new output is captive, feeding PX and benzene units rather than the merchant market, so spot availability stays tight even as headline capacity grows. Downstream, roughly 68 percent of mixed xylene goes to PX, 27 percent to gasoline blending and small shares to solvents. When styrene and PX units run hard, mixed benzene and mixed aromatics are pulled into the complex; when blending margins weaken, the same barrels flood the solvent market and prices soften.