Northwest European gasoline barges reached a nine-month outright price high on Wednesday, despite a drop in gasoline crack spreads, as crude continued to surge, Platts data show.
FOB Rotterdam Eurobob gasoline barges rose by $9.25/mt on the day to be assessed at $1,078.25/mt, while FOB Rotterdam 10 ppm gasoline barges gained $7.75/mt to be valued at $1,082.75/mt.
These are the highest outright prices in both markets since May 11, Platts data show, when EBOB barges were valued at $1,085/mt and 10 ppm was assessed at $1,096/mt.
Traders attributed the gain in outright prices to rising costs of crude oil. On Tuesday, the front-month ICE Brent crude contract traded at $122.81/b at 1630 GMT, up $2.23/b from 1630 GMT Tuesday.
Despite the high in outright price, Eurobob crack swaps fell $0.80/b on the day to be assessed at $7.10/b.
"We're up $2 on crude, so that's the main driver," a European gasoline trader said of the high.
