European MTBE's factor to Eurobob gasoline barges are now an 18-month high as a result of large exports to the west coast of Africa, according to S&P Global Platts data.
The factor -- the ratio of the MTBE price to Eurobob barges -- rose by 0.016 to 1.304 during Wednesday's session and remained unchanged Thursday amid an uptick in activity that saw five deals executed over the past two days.
BP bought 2,000 mt of MTBE and Glencore 3,000 mt during the Platts Market on Close assessment process over the last couple of days.
The European MTBE price rose $8/mt on Wednesday to $644/mt FOB ARA and another $1 on Thursday.
The West African blending program for July amounts to at least 1.5 million mt of gasoline, which is seen as a large import program for one month, according to traders.
The bulk of that gasoline is expected to head to Nigeria.
The gasoline arbitrage from Europe to the US closed recently, leaving 100% of gasoline blending demand in Europe centered on African buyers, according to a trader.
Eurobob physical barges rose 50 cents/mt to $494.50/mt FOB AR Thursday.
