US spot butadiene was assessed Friday at 36 cents/lb ($794/mt) CIF US Gulf Coast, up 1.5 cents/lb on the week, due to supply tightness, sources said.
The assessment was at its highest level since November 13, when it was at 38 cents/lb CIF USG, according to Platts data.
The US market was talked in the mid-30s cents/lb, but sources said it was tough to read the market because of a lack of firm bids or offers.
Spot supply had become tight after the US exported 20,000 mt of butadiene to Asia over March and April and due to an unplanned outage, sources said.
The butadiene extraction unit at BASF Total's Port Arthur, Texas, plant will be down through April following an unplanned shutdown, BASF company spokeswoman Leslie Thomson said earlier this week.
"The root cause of the equipment failure is still under investigation. It is estimated the butadiene extraction unit will be out of service for approximately 4-5 weeks," Thomson said.
The unit experienced an equipment failure that caused the unplanned outage on March 30, Thomson added. The Port Arthur unit has a capacity of 900 million lbs/year.
The outage came after the US exports to Asia, which had already tightened the US market, sources said. The US is typically a net importer of butadiene from Europe.
Most sellers were also sold out of prompt supply for April, sources said, adding that it was tough to find any product currently. There were inquiries for spot material from smaller buyers, but it was tough to gauge demand currently because of the supply situation, sources said.
US spot butadiene prices are 4 cents higher over the last two weeks and have climbed 11 cents since an assessment at 25 cents/lb CIF USG on February 19, according to Platts data.
