Shell Chemical nominated its August US butadiene contract price down 25 cents/lb ($551/mt) from July to 41 cents/lb ($904/mt), sources said Monday.
Shell Chemical could not be reached immediately to confirm the nomination.
Market expectations for the August US butadiene contract price has been for a drop of anywhere from 10 cents to 25 cents.
Sources said part of the reason for the steep drop would be to stop arbitrage opportunities from Europe and Asia on butadiene as well as derivative styrene-butadiene rubber.
The US butadiene spot price was assessed Friday at 39 cents/lb CIF USG. US spot prices have tumbled 37 cents since being assessed at 76 cents/lb CIF USG May 24, according to Platts data.
TPC Group nominated its August US butadiene contract price down 26 cents/lb to 40 cents/lb, sources said Friday, while ExxonMobil nominated its August contracts down 20 cents to 53 cents/lb, sources said Monday.
Producers could not not be reached to confirm the reported nominations.
The other producer, LyondellBasell, has yet to nominate for August contracts, sources said.
The July US butadiene contract price settled down 8 cents/lb from June to a 66-73 cents/lb split settlement, with ExxonMobil settling at 73 cents/lb, while Shell Chemical, LyondellBasell and TPC Group settling at 66 cents/lb, sources said.
Producer confirmation on the July settlement was unavailable.
