Market and product
Asian butadiene prices hit 6-month high on tight supply, new rubber plants
Asian butadiene prices hit a more than six month high Monday on tightavailability amid the startup of new synthetic rubber plants in China andhigher naphtha feedstock costs.
Butadiene prices surged 44% from a 2012 low of $1,455/mt FOB Korea onDecember 7 to $2,100/mt on Monday, Platts data showed Tuesday.
The last time the butadiene benchmark was that high was on August 3,2012, when it stood at $2,239/mt.
Asian naphtha prices stood at $1,023.25/mt CFR Japan Monday, up 7% from$959.625/mt on January 2.
In China, the expected startup of new domestic butadiene rubber plantsplaced additional demand on butadiene supplies.
Sinopec Maoming is due to start up a new 100,000 mt/year BR plant in thefirst quarter, while Zhejiang Transfar plans to start up a 100,000 mt/year BRplant by the end of Q1. In Q2, YPC-GPRO (Nanjing) Rubber is due to start up a100,000 mt/year BR plant at Jiangsu province, and Petrochina's SichuanPetrochemical plans to bring a 150,000 mt/year BR plant online by mid-year.
This follows the startup of new synthetic rubber plants in 2012 thatresulted in China's butadiene imports for the year soaring almost 47% year onyear to 344,825 mt, data published late January by the China CustomsStatistics Information Center showed.
One of those new plants was started up by German specialty chemicalsmaker Lanxess -- a 30,000 mt/year joint-venture nitrile butadiene rubberplant at Nantong -- on May 23.
Recent butadiene price hikes have also been supported by lowerproduction in South Korea due to a change in feedstock composition andtechnical woes.
Lotte Chemical began using 10% LPG as feedstock for its steam cracker atDaesan from February 1 to cope with rising naphtha costs.
The Daesan steam cracker, which can make 1 million mt/year of ethyleneand 500,000 mt/year of propylene, supplies crude C4 feedstock to a 150,000mt/year butadiene extraction unit at the same location.
The change will not affect output of ethylene and propylene but willlower production of butadiene.
Similarly, Yeochun Naphtha Cracking Center plans to use 10% butane asfeedstock for its No. 1 and No. 2 naphtha-fed steam crackers at Yeosu to 10%from March 1. The No. 1 unit can produce 860,000 mt/year of ethylene and450,000 mt/year of propylene; No. 2 580,000 mt/year of ethylene and 280,000mt/year of propylene; and No. 3 470,000 mt/year of ethylene and 240,000mt/year of propylene. No butane will be used in the No. 3 cracker.
The three supply crude C4 feedstock to a 240,000 mt/year butadieneextraction unit that is due to undergo a month-long turnaround in May.
That unit has been operating at 80% of its capacity since February 8,down from 100% earlier, due to contamination of an extractor caused bypolymerization. This equates to the loss of a 1,500 mt butadiene cargo/month.
Also from March 1, Samsung Total will use 10% of butane as feedstock forits naphtha-fed steam cracker at Daesan, which can produce 1 million mt/yearof ethylene, 600,000 mt/year of propylene and 114,000 mt/year of butadiene.
REDUCED RUNS IN S KOREA HIT EXPORTS TO CHINA
The reduced runs will affect South Korea's butadiene exports to China.
South Korea was the largest supplier of butadiene to China in 2012 at127,000 mt, up 57% from 2011, and accounting for about 37% of the total344,825 mt that China imported last year.
Tight availability of deepsea cargoes also propped up spot butadieneprices in January due to steam cracker run cuts in Europe in Q4 2012 and anunexpected shutdown. That tightness is expected to continue because ofturnarounds scheduled for Q2.
A 745,000 mt/year Naphtachimie-operated steam cracker at Lavera,France, has been shut since December 22 over a technical issue affecting oneof its main compressors. That cracker feeds a 120,000 mt/year butadiene unit.
Shell's 940,000 mt/year Moerdijk cracker in the Netherlands, BASF's 1.08million mt/year unit in Antwerp, Belgium, and BPRP's 540,000 mt/year unit atGelsenkirchen, Germany, will be offline for turnarounds between May and June.
The Antwerp cracker is the biggest in Europe and shuts only once everyfive to six years for maintenance work.
Moerdijk can deliver 115,000 mt/year of butadiene, while a new 155,000mt/year butadiene unit being built at Antwerp is due to start up in 2014.
The Netherlands exported 50,900 mt of butadiene to China in 2012, up122% year on year, and comprising 15% of China's total butadiene imports.
Citing tight supply and expected demand from China, butadiene producersin South Korea are targeting $2,200/mt FOB Korea for March cargoes, which arelimited due to the domestic use of butane as a cracker feedstock and YNCC'sunit operating at a reduced rate.
Butadiene prices surged 44% from a 2012 low of $1,455/mt FOB Korea onDecember 7 to $2,100/mt on Monday, Platts data showed Tuesday.
The last time the butadiene benchmark was that high was on August 3,2012, when it stood at $2,239/mt.
Asian naphtha prices stood at $1,023.25/mt CFR Japan Monday, up 7% from$959.625/mt on January 2.
In China, the expected startup of new domestic butadiene rubber plantsplaced additional demand on butadiene supplies.
Sinopec Maoming is due to start up a new 100,000 mt/year BR plant in thefirst quarter, while Zhejiang Transfar plans to start up a 100,000 mt/year BRplant by the end of Q1. In Q2, YPC-GPRO (Nanjing) Rubber is due to start up a100,000 mt/year BR plant at Jiangsu province, and Petrochina's SichuanPetrochemical plans to bring a 150,000 mt/year BR plant online by mid-year.
This follows the startup of new synthetic rubber plants in 2012 thatresulted in China's butadiene imports for the year soaring almost 47% year onyear to 344,825 mt, data published late January by the China CustomsStatistics Information Center showed.
One of those new plants was started up by German specialty chemicalsmaker Lanxess -- a 30,000 mt/year joint-venture nitrile butadiene rubberplant at Nantong -- on May 23.
Recent butadiene price hikes have also been supported by lowerproduction in South Korea due to a change in feedstock composition andtechnical woes.
Lotte Chemical began using 10% LPG as feedstock for its steam cracker atDaesan from February 1 to cope with rising naphtha costs.
The Daesan steam cracker, which can make 1 million mt/year of ethyleneand 500,000 mt/year of propylene, supplies crude C4 feedstock to a 150,000mt/year butadiene extraction unit at the same location.
The change will not affect output of ethylene and propylene but willlower production of butadiene.
Similarly, Yeochun Naphtha Cracking Center plans to use 10% butane asfeedstock for its No. 1 and No. 2 naphtha-fed steam crackers at Yeosu to 10%from March 1. The No. 1 unit can produce 860,000 mt/year of ethylene and450,000 mt/year of propylene; No. 2 580,000 mt/year of ethylene and 280,000mt/year of propylene; and No. 3 470,000 mt/year of ethylene and 240,000mt/year of propylene. No butane will be used in the No. 3 cracker.
The three supply crude C4 feedstock to a 240,000 mt/year butadieneextraction unit that is due to undergo a month-long turnaround in May.
That unit has been operating at 80% of its capacity since February 8,down from 100% earlier, due to contamination of an extractor caused bypolymerization. This equates to the loss of a 1,500 mt butadiene cargo/month.
Also from March 1, Samsung Total will use 10% of butane as feedstock forits naphtha-fed steam cracker at Daesan, which can produce 1 million mt/yearof ethylene, 600,000 mt/year of propylene and 114,000 mt/year of butadiene.
REDUCED RUNS IN S KOREA HIT EXPORTS TO CHINA
The reduced runs will affect South Korea's butadiene exports to China.
South Korea was the largest supplier of butadiene to China in 2012 at127,000 mt, up 57% from 2011, and accounting for about 37% of the total344,825 mt that China imported last year.
Tight availability of deepsea cargoes also propped up spot butadieneprices in January due to steam cracker run cuts in Europe in Q4 2012 and anunexpected shutdown. That tightness is expected to continue because ofturnarounds scheduled for Q2.
A 745,000 mt/year Naphtachimie-operated steam cracker at Lavera,France, has been shut since December 22 over a technical issue affecting oneof its main compressors. That cracker feeds a 120,000 mt/year butadiene unit.
Shell's 940,000 mt/year Moerdijk cracker in the Netherlands, BASF's 1.08million mt/year unit in Antwerp, Belgium, and BPRP's 540,000 mt/year unit atGelsenkirchen, Germany, will be offline for turnarounds between May and June.
The Antwerp cracker is the biggest in Europe and shuts only once everyfive to six years for maintenance work.
Moerdijk can deliver 115,000 mt/year of butadiene, while a new 155,000mt/year butadiene unit being built at Antwerp is due to start up in 2014.
The Netherlands exported 50,900 mt of butadiene to China in 2012, up122% year on year, and comprising 15% of China's total butadiene imports.
Citing tight supply and expected demand from China, butadiene producersin South Korea are targeting $2,200/mt FOB Korea for March cargoes, which arelimited due to the domestic use of butane as a cracker feedstock and YNCC'sunit operating at a reduced rate.
Source:http://www.platts.com/
