Spot values for December non-LST normal butane rose nearly 10 cents Friday to a six-week high on tightly supplied inventories, market sources said.
Platts assessed non-LST normal butane at the Mont Belvieu, Texas, trading hub at $1.9815/gal, up 9.35 cents from Thursday. This was the highest level since $1.9865/gal on September 15.
"[The market is] physically tight for some reason," a trader commented.
Normal butane demand generally picks up in the winter to heighten vapor pressure in the gasoline pool, but market sources said gasoline demand is currently lower than average.
"Gasoline market [is weak] so it can't really be blending interest," a Gulf Coast LPG broker said.
Finished motor gasoline for the four-week period ending November 25 averaged around 8.66 million barrels/day, compared to 8.93 million barrels during last November, the EIA reported.
