China Petroleum and Chemical Corp, or Sinopec, raised its ex-works butadiene price effective late Monday, the second hike in four days, end-users said Tuesday.
The state-owned company is now offering butadiene at Yuan 8,500/mt, or about $1,155/mt on an import parity basis, up Yuan 500/mt, or 6%. On August 8, Sinopec had increased the price by Yuan 500/mt to Yuan 8,000/mt.
One end-user said Sinopec has reduced runs at several of its naphtha-fed steam crackers, affecting the availability of crude C4 feedstock for butadiene extraction units.
Domestic distributors in China are offering butadiene at Yuan 8,800/mt ex-tank since Monday, down from about Yuan 9,500/mt last week, end-users added.
