Toluene Market Analysis: Price Trend, Trade Data and Solvent Demand

Data source: UN Comtrade public trade statistics (https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/M/HS?reporterCode=156,842,699,410,276,528,356,360,764,458,724,40,56,251,380,616,826,124,76,484,792,682,784,704,490,702,643,36,710,818,364,203,348,300,620,372,208,246,752,578,320,508&period=202607&cmdCode=290230&partnerCode=0&flowCode=X&includeDesc=true) | Last updated: 2026-10-30

Price Trajectory, latest 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07)

The monthly customs export unit value for HS 290230 moved from USD 761.60/ton in 2025-08 to USD 1,129.47/ton in 2026-07 (+48.3% across the window). The window high was USD 1,129.47/ton in 2026-07 and the low USD 671.99/ton in 2025-11. Three-month averages put the latest quarter +29.6% against the previous one, which is classified here as neutral. The heading-level series is volatile: the largest month-on-month move in the window was +45.9% between 2025-08 and 2025-09. In that pair reported value moved -28.7% while reported tonnage moved -51.1%, so the unit-value move reflects the mix of grades and the size of shipments filed under this heading rather than a single quoted price, and the three-month average is read as traded-mix movement rather than as a price signal.

The same panel reported USD 106.6 million of export value on 122,342 tonnes over the twelve months, an average of 10,195 tonnes a month. Values are customs returns for the stated HS heading, so they capture the traded mix of that heading rather than a single quoted grade.

The EU side of the same market is one month fresher than the panel above: Eurostat Comext records EU27 imports of HS 290230 from outside the EU at USD 1,242.92/ton in 2026-08 (EUR 1,072.12/ton at the ECB monthly reference rate), +13.5% against 2026-07, on 36,635 tonnes; the twelve months to 2026-08 totalled 142,475 tonnes. On the 11 months the two datasets share (2025-09 to 2026-07), three-month blocks that far apart moved +45.2% on the export panel and +23.3% on the EU import side, so the two agree on direction. Import values are recorded on a CIF-type basis by a single bloc, so the level is not comparable with the export panel — the comparison above is directional.

2026-08 is not used yet: 6 of the listed reporters had filed both value and net weight for this heading when this page was rebuilt, against the 9 that make up the locked panel used here, and 2026-09 had no filings at all. Mixing a partly-filed month into a fixed panel would move the unit value through composition alone, so the window is held at 2026-07 until the panel for 2026-08 is complete.

HS 290230 carries toluene only, so the series is product-level; nitration grade and commercial grade are not separated inside the heading, and toluene blended into gasoline may be declared under the gasoline headings instead.

Supply-side factors

• Fixed reporting panel of 9 economies: CAN (124), CZE (203), DNK (208), GRC (300), GTM (320), MYS (458), NLD (528), PRT (620), SWE (752). The panel is held constant in every month of the window so month-to-month movement is not a composition effect.
• Monthly unit value range over the window: USD 671.99 to USD 1,129.47/ton.
• Latest month, 2026-07: USD 1,129.47/ton, +1.1% against the previous month, on 3,467 tonnes.

Demand-side factors

• Toluene demand splits between solvent use, TDI via dinitrotoluene, benzoic acid, benzyl chloride and TNT, and chemical-grade toluene is increasingly transalkylated or dealkylated into benzene and xylene, so the chemical outlet competes directly with the gasoline blend pool.
• Related market pages on this site: Benzene, Xylene and Benzyl Chloride — Benzene for the dealkylation and transalkylation product; Xylene for the co-product of toluene disproportionation; Benzyl Chloride for the side-chain chlorination outlet.

Basis: these are customs unit values for the stated HS heading, not quoted spot, contract or assessed prices, and no paid price assessment is used or redistributed on this page. Every figure can be re-checked at the API links listed at the end of this page.

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