The September US butadiene contract price is expected to see a rollover or increase slightly from August’s 34-41 cents/lb ($750-$904/mt) split settlement, sources said Monday.
Contract nominations for the September contract price are expected to be announced this week, sources said.
The expectation for a rollover to an increase of 1-2 cents/lb comes as US spot butadiene pricing jumped to an assessment Friday at 41.5 cents/lb, up 3.5 cents from August 12, on tight supply and increased buying interest following unplanned outages.
Smaller buyers were mainly the ones looking for product, sources said, adding that supply is expected to remain tight into September.
A domestic pipe bid for both August and September was heard at 41 cents/lb delivered for most of the last week and again Monday, with an August domestic deal done at 41 cents/lb delivered pipe Tuesday, sources said.
The August US butadiene contract price settled at a rollover to up 1 cent/lb from July, sources said.
TPC Group settled at 34 cents/lb; Shell Chemicals settled at 36 cents/lb; ExxonMobil and LyondellBasell each settled at 41 cents/lb, sources said.
Producer confirmation on the settlements was unavailable.