The monthly average price for Asian butadiene plunged 13% to $1,738/mt FOB Korea in March against $2,007.50/mt in February over a lack of Chinese demand and oversupply, Platts data showed.
The last time the monthly average was higher was in January, when it stood at $1,758.75/mt.
Weak demand in China resulted in state-owned China Petroleum and Chemical Corp., or Sinopec, slashing its offer prices for butadiene by a total Yuan 3,000 ($478)/mt throughout March to Yuan 11,000/mt on March 27.
With Sinopec's offers at Yuan 11,000/mt, which is about $1,466/mt on an import parity basis, sellers of imported cargoes were under pressure to lower their prices to compete with domestic prices.
Platts data showed that the FOB Korea benchmark for butadiene stood at $1,470/mt on March 28, down 29% from $2,080/mt on March 1.
Butadiene prices were also affected by higher rubber inventories in China. At warehouses in Qingdao, overall rubber stocks stood at 358,300 mt as of March 15, up 0.7% from 355,700 mt on March 1, according to data issued by the Qingdao International Rubber Exchange.
Elsewhere, natural rubber stocks held at warehouses monitored by the Shanghai Futures Exchange rose 1.5% to 117,696 mt as of March 29, versus 115,991 mt on March 22, the SHFE said last Friday.
