- May supply situation unclear- Some producers resist LPG cracking



Asian butadiene steady day on April 5. Spot price discussions
were limited due to key Chinese market participants being away from trading
because of a holiday. Market sources
reported that spot price discussions for April are almost over, while market
sentiment remains mixed for May. Some
trading sources indicated that spot supplies may be limited because of plant
turnaround season. Some Asian steam
crackers plan to switch to LPG as their feedstocks from naphtha. This would
decrease butadiene production.  South
Korea's LG Chem, Lotte Chemical, and Unv1’s Formosa Petrochemicals had
previously announced plans to replace naphtha by cheaper propane. Spot supplies from China, on the other hand are available
because the local China price is lower than that of the export market. Local China butadiene prices...