The Asian MTBE factor, which indicates the relative value of octane-booster MTBE to that of 92 RON gasoline, was assessed up 0.016 points at 1.159 Wednesday from 1.143 Tuesday, on the back of keen buying interest for MTBE seen during Wednesday's Market on Close process amid expected incremental gasoline demand from regional importers.
The last time the factor was any higher was on August 6, when it was assessed at 1.169.
During MOC Wednesday, Trafigura started bidding for a 2,000-mt MTBE cargo loading October 14-18 at $1,174/mt, and subsequently bid up to $1,179/mt at market close, without finding any sellers. This bid set the price floor for the October 14-18 MTBE assessment.
The FOB Singapore MTBE marker bucked the trend in gasoline and crude futures -- both fell Wednesday day on day -- to rise for a fourth consecutive trading session Wednesday.
The Singapore MTBE marker rose $6/mt from Tuesday to be assessed at $1,180/mt Wednesday, the biggest day-on-day gain for the week.
Demand for MTBE has been firm on the back of incremental gasoline requirements expected from Southeast Asian importers Vietnam and Indonesia, said market sources. Uncovered demand from Indonesian state-owned Pertamina was heard at 600,000-800,000 barrels of 88 RON for mid-October delivery basis -- which is seen as extremely prompt, Platts has reported.
Reflecting prompt demand for MTBE, Taiwan's Formosa Petrochemicals sold two cargoes for H1 October and H2 October loading, each 5,000 mt, at premiums of $5-10/mt over Mean of Platts Singapore MTBE assessments, FOB.
Another trader said that although the inter-octane spreads were narrowing, it was still profitable to blend MTBE to produce higher octane grades of gasoline. The spreads though remained unmoved Wednesday. The inter-octane spreads -- both the 92 RON/95 RON and the 95 RON/97 RON -- were assessed unchanged day on day at $3.38/barrel and $3.18/b, respectively, Platts data showed.
The Asian benchmark 92 RON gasoline price, however, was assessed down $1.05/b day on day at $120.49/b, tracking November ICE Brent crude futures, which slid $1.01/b from Tuesday's 0830 GMT Singapore market close to $109.61/b Wednesday.
