US BD producer ExxonMobil announces sales allocations

04 March 2011 01:51  [Source: ICIS news]

HOUSTON (ICIS)--US producer ExxonMobil said on Thursday that the company had begun allocating sales of butadiene (BD) in the US on 1 March.

While the company gave no explanation for the sales allocation, a buyer said ExxonMobil was running at reduced rates in the aftermath of plant issues suffered earlier in the year.

ExxonMobil operates two BD plants in the US. Their Baytown facility in Texas has an annual capacity of approximately 150,000 tonnes/year, while their Baton Rouge facility in Louisiana has an approximate annual capacity of 175,000 tonnes/year.

It was not immediately known how long the sales allocations would continue.

BD is a raw material that is used primarily in the production of styrene butadiene rubber (SBR), as well as some chemical intermediates and polymer resins.

The sales allocations could further tighten the market, since new vehicle sales – the largest end-use sector for BD – rose more than 27% in February.

US Gulf March BD settled at 104 cents/lb ($2,293/tonne, €1,651/tonne), as assessed by ICIS.

In addition to ExxonMobil, US BD producers include INEOS, LyondellBasell, Shell and TPC Group. Buyers include Invista, International Specialty Products (ISP), LANXESS, Michelin and Negromex.

($1 = €0.72)

For more on butadiene visit ICIS chemical intelligence
For more on Dow Chemical visit ICIS company intelligence

By: Gene Lockard
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