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 sentiment
• European export prices to Asia dropped sharply, indications below naphtha cost
• January-July 2025 European BD exports to Asia four times larger than 2024 volumes
• Local European demand underperforming; suppliers extracting less BD
• Crude C4 (CC4) length persists despite low cracker rates
• Longer term CC4 availability in Europe diminished due to cracker closures
• Domestic 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 activities
• Minor Q1 turnaround in 2026 running concurrently alongside major cracker turnaround could keep supply and demand fundamentals balanced

Additional reporting from Industry Analysts Elaine Zhang and Ann Sun.