- 92 Ron up 1.2%; crude higher by 2.5% on day- Asia to-US/ARA MTBBE Arbitrage remains open



Asian FOB Singapore MTBE surged $45-50/mt
to $1,371-1,400/mt in the morning. This was due to active buying interest and
firmer crude oil and gasoline markets. The 92 RON gasoline rose 1.19% to $148.56-170.25/b.
Meanwhile, the front-month ICE Brent crude oil futures were up 2.53% to $113.40-140.10/b
at 4:45 pm Singapore time (0830 GMT). According
to Japanese customs data, April's MTBE exports fell 23% from the previous month
to 265 mt. In the meantime, Japan's MTBE
imports decreased 1.8% in April to 125.551 mt. The spread of FOB US Gulf Coast/ARA/FOB Singapore remained
positive at $480.25-500.10/mt compared to $338.06-350.25/mt. These spreads make Asia to Europe and Asia-US MTBE arbitrage
economically feasible. Market participants
anticipated that arbitrage demand from Europe and...