(ICIS) -- Indian styrene butadiene rubber (SBR) prices surged past USD 4.000/tonne (EUR 2.760/tonne) this week and look set to remain firm in May as supply is tighter than expected, industry sources said on Thursday. Spot prices for non-oil grade 1502 spiked USD 200/tonne week on week to USD 4.000-4.100/tonne CFR (cost & freight) India on 20 April, ICIS data showed.
Heavy turnaround schedule at regional plants this quarter constrains SBR availability, which is aggravated by supply disruption in Japan and limited material coming from Europe, traders said.
TSRC Corp in Taiwan; Zeon Corp in Japan; and Bridgestone Huizhou Synthetic Rubber, Lanzhou Petrochemical and Gaoqiao Petrochemical in China have scheduled maintenance at their SBR plants in April and May.
In Japan, a number of SBR plants have shut operations or cut production in the wake of the massive 9.0-magnitude earthquake and tsunami that struck the northeastern part of the country on March 11.