Shell Chemicals nominated its March US butadiene contract price up 8 cents/lb ($176/mt) from February to 68 cents/lb ($1,499/mt), sources said Thursday.
Shell officials could not be reached immediately for confirmation.
TPC Group also nominated its March butadiene contract 8 cents higher to 68 cents/lb, while LyondellBasell nominated its March contract up 15 cents from February to 75 cents/lb, sources said Monday.
ExxonMobil nominated its March US butadiene contract price up 20 cents from February to 85 cents/lb, sources said last week.
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Producer confirmation on those nominations was unavailable.
The March butadiene contract remains unsettled, sources said. ExxonMobil’s nomination was higher than expected, according to market sources, who said they anticipated a 5 to 15-cent hike.
Market soures said they are concerned that if the US butadiene contract price rises too much, then the door would be opened to US imports of Asian downstream styrene-butadiene rubber, eroding domestic demand for SBR.
US spot butadiene was last assessed Friday at 78 cents/lb CIF US Gulf Coast, with sources talking March prices from the mid-70s cents/lb to low-80s cents/lb CIF USG level as supply has remained tight in the US.
US spot butadiene has risen 17 cents since being assessed at 61 cents/lb CIF USG on December 20.
The February US butadiene contract settled up 5-8 cents/lb from January at a 60-65 cents/lb split, with ExxonMobil at 65 cents/lb, while TPC Group, LyondellBasell and Shell Chemical settled at 60 cents/lb, sources said.
Source: Platts.com
