China Butadiene Output to Pick Up in Jun

Up to now, there are 28 butadiene producers in China, with a total capacity of 3,889kt/a. The investigated ones include the total capacity of 650kt/a, 335kt/a, 1,715t/a, 530kt/a, 120kt/a, 369kt/a and 170kt/a, respectively in 5 producers of Northeast China, 2 producers of North China, 11 producers of East China, 3 producers of South China, 1 producer of Southwest China, 3 producers of Northwest China and 2 producers of Central China.

In May 2018, the operating rate of units at China’s butadiene producers dropped to 65% or so M-O-M. According to SCI, the butadiene output climbed to 211.6kt roughly in May, because the 180kt/a butadiene unit at CNOOC and Shell Petrochemicals started up and ran at low load. The whole operating rate was still low, based on the following aspects. The 100kt/a butadiene unit at Jiangsu Sailboat Petrochemical was shut from mid-April to mid-May. The 165kt/a butadiene unit at Sinopec Zhenhai Refining & Chemical was shut in May. The butadiene unit at BASF-YPC was shut till around May 10. The butadiene units at Sinopec Yangzi Petrochemical and Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical encountered some glitches. Thus, the whole operating rate was still low.

As seen from the above chart, the operating rate of units at most China’s butadiene producers mainly remained flat in May, accounting for 83% of the total. As for production techniques, the operating rate of butene ODH units was still low. A 100kt/a butene ODH unit at Zibo Qixiang Tengda Chemical ran at around 50%. The 100kt/a butene unit at Jiangsu Sailboat Petrochemical started up in mid-late May, and the operating rate ramped up slightly compared with early days. Besides, the butene ODH units at Shandong Kenli Petrochemical and Shandong Yuhuang Chemical were still in a downtime.

In June, most butadiene units will run normally in China. The 165kt/a butadiene unit at Sinopec Zhenhai Refining & Chemical has been shut on April 25 and restarted on June 1. It is estimated that there will be products available around June 10. The butadiene unit at North Huajin Chemical Industries will be in a downtime for one month since June 10. A 60kt/a butadiene unit at Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical will be shut down for more than 40-day maintenance since June 18. The operating rate of the 180kt/a butadiene unit at CNOOC and Shell Petrochemicals has ramped up to over 50% and that will continue to rally in June. Overall, China’s butadiene supply in June will increase from May.