TPC Group nominated its May US butadiene contract price at 79 cents/lb ($1,742/mt), a fall of 5 cents/lb ($110/mt) compared with its April contract price, sources said Friday.
LyondellBasell nominated its May US butadiene contract price at 81 cents/lb ($1,786/mt), down 3 cents/lb ($66/mt) compared with its April contract price, they said.
TPC Group and LyondellBasell were unavailable to confirm the prices.
Market expectations have been that May US butadiene contract prices would fall as much as as 10 cents compared with April levels because of continued weak demand and lower spot prices in April.
The US butadiene spot price was last assessed April 19 at 79 cents/lb CIF US Gulf Coast and heard in the high 70s cents/lb CIF USG Friday. At the end of March, the price was assessed at 82 cents/lb CIF USG, while on March 8, it was assessed at 92 cents/lb CIF USG, according to Platts data.
ExxonMobil nominated its May US butadiene contract price 1 cent/lb lower at 85 cents/lb, sources said Monday.
ExxonMobil was unavailable to confirm this.
The other US butadiene producer — Shell Chemical – had yet to nominate for May US contracts, sources said.
The April US butadiene contract settled at a rollover from March at an 84-86 cents/lb split settlement, with ExxonMobil at 86 cents/lb, while TPC Group, Shell Chemical and LyondellBasell settled at 84 cents/lb, sources said.
Producer confirmation for the April prices was unavailable.
Source: platts.com
