London (Platts)--23Jan2013/648 am EST/1148 GMT

FOB Rotterdam Eurobob barges crossed the $1,000/mt mark at Tuesday's European close as crack swaps posted fresh highs following a recent rise in exports to the US Atlantic Coast, a gasoline trader said.

At Tuesday's European close, Eurobob was assessed at $1,002.50/mt, flat to the February swap, Platts data shows, after a subdued Platts Market on Close assessment process featuring no trades and a bid-offer range of $990-1,004/mt.

This was the first time Eurobob has crossed $1,000/mt since October 17, when it was assessed at $1,009.50/mt.

The market also flipped into backwardation at Tuesday's European close, with the February swap assessed at a $1/mt premium to March, for the first time since January 8, Platts data showed.

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Meanwhile, the front-month crack swap was assessed at $8.90/mt at Tuesday's European close, up from Monday's $7.85/mt and the highest on record since October 11, when it was assessed at $9.75/mt, Platts data shows.

Wednesday morning, the front-month crack was pegged at $9.02/mt, while the February-March spread was pegged at $1.25/mt, a second trade source said.

The first gasoline trader attributed the upward momentum in the EBOB market structure to the recent wave of fixtures from Northwest Europe to the US Atlantic Coast.

"I think EBOB has been gaining strength again due to the arbitrage volumes for the US," he said. "Each time, it reacts very quickly to that."

A third trader said the market is currently supported by bullish blending components.

For instance, naphtha crack swaps have risen due to an open arbitrage to Asia. Naphtha is both a petrochemical feedstock and a low octane gasoline blending component used in looser specifications such as for the West African market.

Also, higher quality aromatic blending components remain expensive due to Chinese demand, he said.

--Anna Ward, anna_ward@platts.com
--Edited by Jonathan Fox, jonathan_fox@platts.com

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