China Petroleum & Chemical Corp., or Sinopec, has raised its ex-works prices in the eastern provinces for a second time this month, by Yuan 200($32)/mt to Yuan 21,500/mt, effective January 6, local end-users said Monday.

The latest price increase came a day after the state-run company revised prices upwards by Yuan 300/mt to Yuan 21,300/mt on January 5.

Currently, Sinopec's subsidiaries in South China -- Guangzhou Petrochemical and Maoming Petrochemical -- are offering butadiene at Yuan 21,500/mt.

Among the reasons cited for the two price increases were a tightening of supply as end-users in China secure cargoes ahead of the Lunar New Year holidays beginning in the third week of January.

Domestic production in China has been curtailed as Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical shut its No. 1 naphtha-fed steam cracker at Jinshan, Shanghai, from mid-December to mid-January for scheduled maintenance.

Sinopec Shanghai runs a 115,000 mt/year butadiene extraction unit at Jinshan, which obtains its crude C4 feedstock from its No. 1 and 2 crackers.

Northeast Asian supply was also tight as South Korean producers had said they were sold out of January spot butadiene cargoes.