LyondellBasell announces August butadiene nomination in US

According to market sources, LyondellBasell nominated its August butadiene contract in the US. The August butadiene nomination stands at 41 cents/lb ($904/mt), a rollover from the July settlement. However, LyondellBasell changed its contract pricing method to involve aggregate fees. For this reason, the nomination increased 5 cents/lb from its July nomination. Sources stated that some butadiene contracts were nominated or settled excluding aggregate fee in the past years.

ExxonMobil’s August nomination was announced at 41 cents/lb with a 1 cent/lb increase from July while TPC Group announced its nomination at 34 cents/lb with a rollover from July, according to market players. Sources reported they have not heard nominations yet from Shell Chemicals.

ExxonMobil’s August nomination surprised many players who were expecting the contract to be nominated with a rollover or slight decreases because of improved supplies in July.

Sources reported that the July butadiene nomination was settled at a rollover from June at 34-40 cents/lb ($750-882/ton) in the US. TPC reportedly settled its July butadiene contract at 34 cents/lb, LyondellBasell and Shell Chemicals settled their contracts at 36 cents/lb; and ExxonMobil settled its contract at 40 cents/lb.