ICIS price assessments for butadiene (BD)/crude C4 are widely used by market players in contract and trade deals.
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Updated to Q2 2021
Asia
Supply tightened in the quarter, first due to the onset of a heavy wave of regional plant turnarounds in April. Although this was to some extent offset later by some plants in China returning from unplanned closures in Q1, more regional volumes were drained in the second half of the quarter by competing demand from the supply-starved US market.
Regional demand fell in the quarter, contrary to earlier anticipation, after a second wave of COVID-19 infections emerged. This forced several key regional outlets, from India to Malaysia, into prolonged country-wide lockdowns, weighing down downstream operations and reducing requirements for raw materials like BD.
Europe
Supply was tight during Q2. Output was restricted through planned and unplanned cracker/BD unit outages, which limited BD precursor crude C4 (CC4). CC4 was additionally constrained because cracker operators cracked light feedstocks due to economics, and these produce less CC4.
Demand remained very healthy, both domestically in terms of contractual offtakes and on spot. Export demand was particularly strong as US supply issues have persisted and consumers in the region have had to look to Europe and Asia to supplement volumes. Spot prices rose significantly over the quarter.
US
While US polar storm outages were largely resolved, production disruptions continued through the quarter and supply remained insufficient to meet demand. Shell Norco was on turnaround in April and May. TPC dealt with ongoing boiler issues that resulted in intermittent outages. Arlanxeo was feedstock constrained for several weeks because of a feedstock supplier outage. The remaining suppliers either did not have surplus volumes or were restricting sales through May.
Demand strengthened through the quarter as downstream producers had their own depleted inventories to manage. They had to temper rates because of a lack of BD and allocate their own sales. Additionally, tyre demand was very strong amid strong demand for replacement tyres. Tyre producers have redirected capacity to replacement amid a chip shortage curbing OEM production.
Whether you are buying or selling, our short-to-long term solutions – from pricing data, breaking news and market analysis, to supply and demand forecasts – will power your decision-making process by bringing clarity through data and ensuring you are able to evaluate the global butadiene market from every angle.
Key trading prices and activities – Spot, contract and domestic prices. Offers, bids and transactions of butadiene and crude/C4
Price alerts and market updates: Shifts in prices, the latest news, market developments and changes in regulations and demand trends
Plant data: Production and capacity, plant maintenance and shutdowns
Feedstock: Prices and market updates for naphtha
Historical prices: Download and/or chart pricing from as far back as the start of ICIS coverage
Weekly market outlook: Overview and outlook for the overall regional butadiene market, including a brief commentary on the related regional markets
Supply and demand: Analysis of domestic and international supply and demand
Regional coverage: Asia-Pacific, China, Europe and the US
Asia-Pacific
Europe
US Gulf
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Butadiene is a colourless, non-corrosive liquefied gas with a mild aromatic or gasoline-like odour. It is slightly soluble in water, more soluble in methanol and ethanol, and soluble in most common organic solvents such as acetone, ether, benzene, and cyclohexane. It readily polymerises in the presence of sodium or oxygen.
Butadiene is used to produce synthetic rubbers and polymer resins, as well as a few chemical intermediates. The largest uses are styrene butadiene rubber (SBR) and polybutadiene rubber (BR), mostly used in tyres and automobiles.
The major source of butadiene is as a byproduct in the steam cracking of naphtha and gas oil to make ethylene and propylene. The butadiene is extracted from the C4 cracker stream using extractive distillation.
Other uses include acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) resins, styrene-butadiene latex and block copolymers, nitrile rubber, and adiponitrile (ADN)
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