(ICIS) -- It is still unclear whether Asian petrochemical demand will rebound in the next three months amid rising ethylene and butadiene (BD) prices, traders said on Thursday. Ethylene prices in the region appeared to have bottomed out, rising by $10-20/tonne (┬7.5-15/tonne) in the week ended 18 November to $1,020-1,050/tonne CFR (cost and freight) NE (northeast) Asia, ICIS data showed.
Downstream styrene butadiene rubber (SBR) prices in Asia ended a three-month slump on restocking activities by traders/end-users, and on the back of rising values of feedstock BD.
Average spot prices of non-oil grade 1502 SBR rebounded $50/tonne week on week to $2,725/tonne (┬2,017/tonne) CIF China on 23 November, after shedding 45% since early August, according to ICIS.
BD prices were assessed at $1,700-1,750/tonne CFR NE Asia in the week ended 23 November, up by 9.5% from the previous week. Until the rebound in prices this week, BD values had been falling for four months. The rebound in BD prices led to expectations that SBR values will increase further, market sources said. BD is a major feedstock in the production of SBR, making up more than 70% of SBR's composition and cost.
Perspectives of development of the polymers markets, pricing issues and other important aspects will be discussed at The Polymers Summit-2011, which will be held in Moscow on November 30, 2011 at the Ritz Carlton Hotel. The Summit is organized by MRC with the support of ICIS. The main idea of the Summit is to find a "the golden mean" between producers and converters. When producers receive exactly such margin of production, which helps them to invest in production expansion in order to substitute polymers imports, and the converters receive such price of feedstock that helps them to compete imported finished products. The Summit site gives an access to the live video of the Summit, speakers" presentations, as well as opportunities to ask questions or make appointments to any Summit partcipant.