Asia naphtha price slips

15-Dec-10

Asia naphtha price slipped to a two-session low on Tuesday. Naphtha cracks extended losses to dip to their lowest in nearly three weeks on muted demand for February spot parcels as per Reuters. Demand is muted due to incoming arbitrage cargoes, but is expected to remain strong as not many factors are at play to bring the market down. Most crackers in Asia continue to operate at high rates, with no maintenance in South Korea or Japan planned in Q1-011, with the exception of LG Chem in end March. South Korea is expected to buy February cargoes within this week. Japan's Mitsui Chemicals bought 50,000 tons of naphtha at premiums of around US$8/ton to Japan spot quotes on a cost-and-freight (C&F) basis for H2-January arrival at Chiba.