MTBE Prices in Shandong First Surged and then Crashed

On January 12, 2018, ChemChina Changyi Petrochemical obviously raised the gasoline prices by RMB 600/mt, shocking the refined oil market. Besides, other independent refineries raised the gasoline prices in succession. Thus, the gasoline prices at Shandong independent refineries surged by RMB 600-700/mt.

Moreover, up to January 13, 2018, the C4R2 prices in Shandong grew by RMB 500-600/mt, and the mainstream prices climbed to RMB 6,000/mt. In order to ensure the profit of the deep-processing industry, the MTBE prices in Shandong surged.

The surged MTBE prices aggravated the wait-and-see sentiment of downstream users. Moreover, the prices of Brent crude oil futures fell back, resulting in the further tough sales of MTBE. Thus, most producers would cut the MTBE prices in order to sell resources before January 20, 2018. At present, the inventory at downstream users declines gradually, and the demand for MTBE recovers moderately. Besides, downstream users will intensively stock up before the Spring Festival, and traders will seek for a proper opportunity to operate. SCI estimates that the MTBE prices in Shandong will decline to RMB 5,700-5,800/mt and then be stable.