MTBE Price | Current and Forecast
Monitor MTBE Prices Worldwide
See monthly MTBE prices in 5 locations: US, S. America, Middle East, SE Asia, NE Asia. Also check MTBE price history since 2007 and forecasts. Subscribe now to Intratec Primary Commodity Prices and gain access to current prices of 244 commodities, including MTBE.
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Data Legend. The MTBE price chart shows the prices in USA Dollar per metric ton (USD/mt) in 5 locations, as follows:
- US: transaction, fob
- S. America: transaction, fob, Brazil
- Middle East: transaction, cif, Turkey
- SE Asia: transaction, fob, Thailand
- NE Asia: transaction, cif, Taiwan
Data Use. MTBE prices are provided as an annual subscription where subscribers have access to reliable pricing data of 244 commodities worldwide. To better understand data provided by Intratec Primary Commodity Prices, check the following documents: Price Assessment Basis , Commodities Specifications , Methodology , User Guide , and Glossary .
Price Dynamics. The MTBE price in United States increased during September 2018 to 1,040 USD per metric ton, which represents a considerable rise of 25% compared to the previous month’s value. On a year-over-year basis, MTBE prices in United States increased significantly by 51%. Meanwhile, in Brazil, the average price of MTBE amounted to 690 USD per metric ton, from 584 USD per metric ton one year earlier. On a month-over-month basis, the MTBE price in Brazil is 0.6% lower than the price one month before.
The price of MTBE in Turkey rose slightly throughout September 2018, reaching 853 USD per metric ton. The price in Turkey is 3% higher than the average price in the previous month and 18% higher than the average price one year before. In contrast, MTBE prices in Thailand increased modestly during September 2018, reaching 796 USD per metric ton, which means a rise of 2% from the previous month’s price and a rise of 18% from the previous year’s price.
The MTBE prices in Taiwan experienced a modest rise of 22 USD per metric ton from the prior month's price, to 795 USD per metric ton. Such price movement in Taiwan meant a rise of 3% on a monthly basis and a rise of 14% on a yearly basis.
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About MTBE. MTBE (a.k.a. Methyl tert-Butyl Ether) is a volatile, flammable, and colorless liquid with a minty smell. This ether is a major compound in the octane enhancer industry, its main application area. The remaining MTBE is used as a solvent and in the production of other chemical compounds. It is produced by the reaction of methanol and isobutylene (2-methyl-1-propene) in the liquid state.
The demand for MTBE largely increased in the late 1970s, amid the phase-out of lead as an octane enhancer. Indeed, MTBE low cost, high octane value, oxygen content, and easy incorporation into gasoline lead to a significant increase in its consumption in the 1980s, as a substitute for tetraethyl lead in gasoline. The use of MTBE was also stimulated by the governments to meet air quality goals since it reduces motor vehicle emissions, air toxic emissions, and pollutants that form ground-level ozone. Since then, MTBE has been mainly produced from mixed butylenes from ethylene crackers and from fluid catalytic crackers, catalytic butane dehydrogenation, or tert-butyl alcohol dehydration.
In the 1990s, concerns about the safety of using MTBE arose in light of contaminations of surface and groundwater, related to leakings from underground storage tanks and pipelines: the MTBE, having high solubility in water and low vapor pressure, readily transfers to the groundwater. In this context, since mid-2000s, gasoline manufacturers, to comply with new environmental legislation, started replacing MTBE by renewable, safer alternatives, mainly ethanol and ETBE (ethyl tertiary butyl ether). Nowadays, MTBE is still used as a gasoline additive outside of the US, mainly in countries in the Middle East and Asia Pacific. In the United States, MTBE is used in the manufacture of high-purity isobutylene (HPIB), but most of its production targets export markets, mainly Latin America.
MTBE production pathways are mainly related to the sources of isobutylene consumed. Four major sources of isobutylene are utilized: C4 stream (raffinate-1) from steam cracking units, C4 stream from refinery catalytic crackers after butadiene extraction, on purpose isomerization and dehydrogenation of butane to isobutylene, and the dehydration of tert-butyl alcohol. Raw materials and the respective production processes employed in the manufacturing of MTBE are listed below.
- Raffinate I/C4-stream, refinery + methanol (ether formation; coproduced with raffinate II),
- t-Butanol + methanol (Arco MTBE process),
- Isobutylene + methanol (ether formation)
More than 95% of MTBE is used as an anti-knocking agent in gasoline fuels to increase its octane rating, due to its low cost, high-octane value, and easy incorporation into gasoline. Other minor applications of MTBE include its use as a solvent for analytical purposes, as an extractant, and as a solvent dewaxing of hydrocarbon oils.
