US November butadiene (BD) contracts settled lower from October amid ongoing supply length against steady-but-lacklustre demand.
The ICIS Contract Reference Price (CRP) for November fell 2 cents/lb ($44/tonne) to 38 cents/lb.
Market players expected the decline as global markets are grappling with growing supply and ongoing demand weakness.
In the US, supply interruptions of BD and feedstock crude C4 (CC4) over the past couple of months have not tightened the market, largely because demand is below expectations.
US and European producers are managing length through exports to Asia, but incoming product is expected to pressure that market as well.
Fundamentals also are weak in Europe, where November contracts fell by €20/tonne.
The ICIS CRP is down 35 cents/lb from the high of 2018, a year characterised by ongoing tight supply.
BD supply is expected to remain ample with new cracker startups as well as continued cracking of liquified petroleum gas (LPG), which yield larger volumes of co-products propylene and BD.
BD is a key feedstock for synthetic rubbers, largely styrene butadiene rubber (SBR), which is used in tyre manufacturing. BD is extracted from crude C4s.
Major US BD producers include ExxonMobil, LyondellBasell, Shell Chemical and TPC Group. - Source: ICIS -