Butadiene
A four-carbon diene extracted from naphtha cracker by-products, used mainly to make synthetic rubber for tyres, plus ABS and nylon intermediates.
Commodity chemicals · Olefins · No. 25
- Single chemical
- Feedstock: Oil, gas or coal
- about 15 Mt produced a year (2025, indicative: 20.3 Mt capacity x about 75% utilisation)
- 1.3 t CO₂e per t
- HS 290124
Your tyres depend on a by-product almost nobody makes on purpose, which is why butadiene is the most volatile olefin.
Chart: Illustration: Butadiene
Where it comes from
Chart: Map of where it comes from
Over 90% of butadiene is extracted from the crude C4 stream left by naphtha crackers, so supply follows ethylene runs, not rubber demand.
Three things to know
- Ethane crackers make only about a tenth of the butadiene that naphtha crackers do, so the US shale boom left America short.
- China held 7.58 Mt of capacity at end-2025, up 14% in a year, and should be self-sufficient around 2030.
- Butadiene is a known human carcinogen and can polymerise or form explosive peroxides if not inhibited.
The journey
- 1 Naphtha cracking0.15 t butadiene per tonne ethylene
- 2 C4 extractionSolvent distillation to 99.5% purity
- 3 PolymerisationSBR and polybutadiene rubber plants
- 4 TyresRubber compounded into treads and sidewalls