As of October 10, the heavy-fuel chain and the rubber chain were moving on different clocks. Fuel oil sat at RMB 4,529/t and bitumen at RMB 5,259/t, while natural rubber stood at RMB 20,980/t and butadiene rubber at RMB 16,795/t. None of the four carried a daily change flag, meaning the publisher wrote back only absolute prices that day — but the absolute spreads already tell the story.

Fuel oil and bitumen both sit on the heavy-oil upgrading chain, drawing feedstock from vacuum residue; the rubber chain is pulled by tyre operating rates, tyre exports and synthetic-rubber plant maintenance, only weakly tied to crude. Of SNSUC's 13 commodity categories, fuel oil, bitumen, natural rubber and butadiene rubber each hold a seat, and traders read two distinct pricing logics on the same screen.

For SNSUC's data service, putting the heavy-fuel and rubber chains in one terminal pays off not by predicting direction but by laying out inventory, operating rates and arrival schedules side by side so members can judge when the crack spread will widen. When warehouse receipts and spot basis diverge, the alert fires at the data layer first; then the desk picks up the phone — cheaper than guessing.