Butadiene Prices Near Record

摘要

HEALTHY DEMAND and a tight supply picture made worse by product allocations have pushed US butadiene prices into record territory.February contract negotiations for butadiene in the US were concluded at 40 cents per pound,the highest that contract prices have been since the 1981-82 timeframe,when prices also reached the 40 cent mark.Demand for butadiene has remained strong,even though prices have gained 11 cents per pound since the first quarter of 2004.And with Shell Chemicals operating under a 65 percent allocation for butadiene because of outages at its Deer Park,Tex.olefins units,the market for butadiene has tightened even more.