(ICIS) -- China's n-butanol (NBA) prices have been falling for nearly a month, shedding 6.5%, because of weak demand, with sellers struggling not to incur losses, market sources said on Wednesday.
NBA prices were at yuan (CNY) 12.600/tonne (USD 1.935/tonne) EXW (ex-works) in east China at the close of business on 17 May, according to Chemease, an ICIS service in China.
Current prices are nearing sellers' cost, bolstering expectations that values will finally stabilise by end-May at around CNY11.500/tonne, market sources said.
Sellers and producers said they hope demand will start to pick up in June to buoy up prices and enable them to recover some margins.
Throughout May, however, demand will be dismal, with traders and downstream producers laden with high inventory, market sources said.