OREANDA-NEWS. Taiwanese private-sector refiner Formosa Petrochemical has sold an end-October loading MTBE cargo to a Singapore-based trading firm through a tender issued earlier this week.

The cargo was sold at parity to fob Singapore assessments amid limited spot offers in recent weeks. The price formula is the same as that in Formosa's term contracts with its customers for this year.

A lack of offers in the Singapore market has prompted buyers to bid at $27-30/t premiums to fob Singapore prices for cfr Singapore cargoes.

Formosa had not been expected to have any spot availability, with its regular customers having been nominating their usual volumes. But this week's cargo sale helps the producer gauge market sentiment before negotiating term contracts for 2016.