Chinese BD prices surge $146/tonne on tight supply

12 August 2009 04:01  [Source: ICIS news]

SINGAPORE (ICIS news)--Domestic butadiene (BD) prices in China surged by yuan (CNY) 1,000/tonne  ($146/tonne) this week amid tight supply and talks that start-up of the new 120,000 tonne/year plant in Fujian would be delayed further to October, traders said on Wednesday.

Prices jumped to CNY11,000/tonne ex-tank this week, they said.

China’s Fujian Refining and Petrochemical Co had initially delayed the start-up of this plant from July to September. Talks of another delay prompted traders and end-users to secure spot BD to cover their shortfall, which drove up prices, market sources said.

“BD supply is very tight and the downstream synthetic rubber makers have to pay higher prices for BD spot cargoes to keep their synthetic rubber plants running,” a trader said.

Another Chinese BD producer - Maoming Petrochemical, a Sinopec subsidiary, has shut down its 100,000 tonne/year No 2 BD plant in China’s Guangdong province for maintenance.  The shutdown would last 10-12 days until the end of August, a source close to the company said.

The company's other 50,000 tonne/year No 1 BD line was running smoothly, the source said.

($1 = CNY6.84)

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