This week, butadiene prices plunged in the European region.An industry source in Europe, on condition of anonymity, informed a Polymerupdate team member, “European butadiene spot prices experienced a notable decline over the past week, with market activity remaining low. Most market participants indicated that spot trading was limited, as downstream buyers continued to meet their requirements through existing contracts, showing minimal appetite in acquiring extra spot shipments. Despite ongoing supply challenges, including the prolonged outage at TotalEnergies’ Gonfreville units and several scheduled maintenance turnarounds, the overall effect on domestic supply-demand dynamics has been relatively moderate to date. On the export side, prices fell sharply, influenced by weak market conditions in Asia. Elevated freight costs and the expected arrival of additional deep-sea shipments from alternative sources have further reduced arbitrage opportunities. A substantial volume of cargo scheduled for loading in April remains unsold and is anticipated to reach Asia around June, which could exacerbate the existing supply glut in the regional market.On Friday, butadiene prices were assessed at the USD 1005-1015/mt FOB Rotterdam levels, a tumble of USD (-55/mt) from last week.The source added,
