Episode 1408: PODCAST: Global BD Market remains under pressure as weak demand and oversupply persists

Europe butadiene (BD) editor Melissa Hurley discusses the current market conditions and challenges facing the global market with editors Ai Teng Lim, Stephanie Cervantes and BD analyst Gawaine Preston.BD Asia prices hit two-year lows in November due to heavy deep-sea imports from Europe, US, and South America.NE Asia received 250,000 tonnes of deep-sea cargoes in first three quarters of 2025 (up 100,000 tonnes versus 2024).Local production in China impacted by maintenance; BR futures may influence BD pricing sentimentEuropean export prices to Asia dropped sharply, indications below naphtha costJanuary-July 2025 European BD exports to Asia four times larger than 2024 volumesLocal European demand underperforming; suppliers extracting less BDCrude C4 (CC4) length persists despite low cracker ratesLonger term CC4 availability in Europe diminished due to cracker closuresDomestic US market steady to long; tire imports from Asia hurt US tire manufacturing.US BD production stable; supply long; prices near breakeven resulting in suppliers considering or undergoing co-cracking activitiesMinor Q1 turnaround in 2026 running concurrently alongside major cracker turnaround could keep supply and demand fundamentals balancedAdditional reporting from Industry Analysts Elaine Zhang and Ann Sun.