Episode 1142: Asia and Europe BDO markets face contrasting supply conditions, but downstream demand remains subdued

The Asian and European butanediol (BDO) markets have faced differing availability during Q1, with Europe dealing with tightness because of the difficulty in importing volumes, while Asia supply remains more than sufficient and has seen little impact from the Red Sea disruptions. But the key issue of subdued demand, which impacted global markets in 2023, is set to persist in the short term. Europe tightness due to challenges in importing from Asia, hurting initial plansChina and Asia supply adequate even with upcoming maintenancesChina import enquiries heard for arrival in Europe during second half of Q2Demand from downstream sectors set to stay tepid across regionsIn this podcast, ICIS editors Corey Chew and Yashas Mudumbai discuss the outlook for BDO in both Asia and Europe.