Asian MTBE arbitrage flows wrecked by Middle East conflict

Asian flows of MTBE to arbitrage markets in Europe and Latin America have come to an abrupt halt after the start of the US-Iran war. Through early 2026, Chinese MTBE producers were able to overcome muted blending demand around Singapore by pushing their production to hungry buyers in Europe as well as Latin America. With the European summer driving season on the horizon, Asian MTBE producers were eyeing growing demand over the next few months. The podcast dissects and discusses how the initial flows have stalled and what lies ahead for producers in China and Southeast Asia as well as buyers in Europe and Latin America. Join S&P Global Energy's Pankaj Rao , senior price reporter, chemicals, Baran Serdaroglu , price reporter, chemicals Europe, Leo Engels , price reporter Americas and Felipe Perez , lead Latin American fuels and refining, in a discussion about the impact of the ongoing conflict on product flows and on retail prices for gasoline.

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Asian MTBE arbitrage flows wrecked by Middle East conflict is an episode from Commodities Focus by S&P Global Commodity Insights.

This episode is 15:39 long.

This episode was published on Mar 17, 2026.

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