End-users on wait-and-see  Asia butadiene-naphtha spread continues to widen  



Day 31 March was a stable
day for Asian butadiene. The market participants decided to wait
and see amid volatile western crude oil futures. Spot price discussions were
very limited. On the day that $105-125/b was
assessed, May ICE Brent futures fell $2-3/b. End-users of butadiene were left behind amid shrinking
margins in synthetic rubber production. End-users
claimed that rubber producers could not pay more than $1,450-1,500/mt CFR due
to the current state of the rubber market. However, traders were still in demand to fulfill their term
supply contracts. According to market
sources, traders had fewer term contracts due to lower steam cracker activity in
Asia. Spot supply was limited. Ex-China
offers were available but were reportedly not high enough to meet domestic
China market demand. Yuan 11,000-11,500/mt...