US butane exports hit an all-time high of 689,000 b/d, or 1.9mn metric tonnes (t), in April as buyers in Asia scrambled to replace lost production out of the Middle East.
Data tracking firm Kpler showed US butane loadings surpassed the previous high of 1.76mn t in May 2025, when the US trade war with China rerouted loadings and India — a large buyer of butane for residential use — agreed to take US-origin cargoes as part of a trade deal.
India was the primary destination for many of the April exports, with 247,000t en route there in April, according to Kpler. Roughly 231,000t shipped to Morocco, 162,000t went to China and another 134,000t to Korea.
Mideast LPG cargoes are predominately split evenly between propane and butane, whereas export terminals in the US are configured to mostly load propane. The resulting surge in demand for US butane pushed spot terminal fees for May and June-loading split cargoes to a 10¢/USG or more premium to full-propane loadings, even as global supplies of both products are tightening in the face of the blockade at the strait of Hormuz.
In the US, inventories of butane remained 27.5pc above year-before levels as of February at 33.76mn bl, or 3.13mn t, according to the latest data available from the Energy Information Administration (EIA).
Prompt-month US butane prices at Mont Belvieu, Texas, are up by 21.875¢/USG, or 23.6pc, since the war with Iran began but have lagged steeper gains in crude because of ample supplies.
US butane stood at 47.2pc of Nymex WTI on 1 May, versus 65.6pc last year.
