Europe ETBE prices down by $124/tonne on MTBE drop

09 July 2009 17:39  [Source: ICIS news]

LONDON (ICIS news)--European ethyl tertiary butyl ether (ETBE) prices have fallen by $124/tonne (€89/tonne) since last week on a drop in methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) values, market players said on Thursday.

ETBE prices were reported on Thursday at $972-982/tonne FOB (free on board) ARA (Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Antwerp).

Sources said they attributed the fall to a drop in the price of MTBE, which is another gasoline blending component currently used in Europe.

Both of these compounds are very closely linked to the price of gasoline, which had undergone a slide in prices, decreasing by $29/tonne since 2 July to $577/tonne FOB AR (Amsterdam, Rotterdam) on Thursday.

This week’s $124/tonne decline in ETBE prices was the largest weekly fall since a $184/tonne drop in October 2008.

“It’s a very difficult time. ETBE does not usually trade much on the spot market and this week it has been worse. Although we are fulfilling our term contracts, there are no additional buyers out there,” said one producer.

A trader said: “It should pick up in August. This last week has been really very poor for demand on the spot market.”

According to this week’s ICIS chemical tanker shipping report, around 10,000 tonnes of ETBE was due to leave Fos, France, for Constanta, Romania, to arrive in the middle of July.

Much of the demand for ETBE has been in eastern Europe, where countries are trying to use more environmentally friendly fuels in gasoline blending.

ETBE is considered a 'bio-blending' component, similar to ethanol.

($1 = €0.72)

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By: Alexander Nimmo
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