According to market sources, the prices of spot butadiene(BD) in Asia are likely to increase in the first quarter of 2017 in spite of the likely lull in market activity in the weeks before the Lunar New Year holiday in late January. Owing to cracker and BD plant turnarounds in Asia, supply is anticipated to remain tight. However, reducing demand before and during the holiday that is celebrated in most part of Asia is expected to help alleviate the increasing pressure on prices. The Lunar New Year falls on 28 January, and trading and production activities in the Chinese market may slow down from mid-January. But suppliers have raised offers for January BD shipments to $2,200/tonne CFR (cost and freight) Northeast (NE) Asia because of prevailing tight supply and predicted higher prices of crude oil in 2017. Data from ICIS indicate that the average of BD prices was $1,790/tonne CFR NE Asia on 9 December. "It is predicted that BD prices will continue rising above $2,000/tonne CFR NE Asia, and maybe even reach $2,200/tonne CFR NE Asia early next year, because supply is likely to remain tight," a regional manufacturer said. Many cracker operators in Asia such as Malaysia' Lotte Chemical Titan, Petrochemical Corporation of Singapore and Taiwan's CPC Corp will close their BD units for maintenance in the first quarter of next year. Based on ICIS data, the prices of spot BD have been in a strong uptrend from early November, rocketing by nearly 50% from 11 November to 23 December. Prices surged in December owing to the increasing production by BD's downstream synthetic rubber and acrylonitrile butadienestyrene (ABS) plants ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday. Market players expect the reduction of price gains from mid-January until after the holiday that is celebrated for a full week in China. During this time, China's synthetic rubber plants are likely to close or dial down production rates until mid-February. But after players in the key Chinese market returned, BD prices are largely projected to recover, according to market sources. "We believe that BD price will reach $2,200/tonne CFR NE Asia, and may be even higher than in early 2017," a regional producer said. However, there are concerns that the downstream synthetic rubber prices may be unable to follow up the sharp surge in BD prices despite strong demand. A Chinese synthetic rubber manufacturer said, "As the tyre factories are building up inventories, the demand for synthetic rubber is very strong in China, considering expected stronger demand for tyre replacements in 2017." Another one said, "We are planning to increase synthetic rubber prices for January, but it remains to be seen whether it can be accepted and sustained throughout the first quarter of 2017."