Naphtha price in Asia continued to fall to dip to almost 21-month lows of US$706.50/ton due to weaker Brent crude, as per Reuters. However, naphtha margins jumped nearly 11% to reach a two-session high of US$20.10/ton premium with some demand.
South Korea's Samsung Total is seeking volumes through a tender for H2-July arrival, but it may not have secured any cargoes due to limited offers. Other South Korean players are believed to be scouting the market for supplies. Spot demand from Japan is mostly absent, with Idemitsu having cancelled a tender on Monday to buy spot barrels, failing to buy any volumes early in the week as had been expected. Compared to before, demand was slower while spot supplies were higher.
"Demand is sluggish because of the economic slowdown which has forced the petrochemical makers to either cut units' runs or delay naphtha purchases," said a trader based in South Asia. He added that the prevailing uncertainties were hampering deals. Mixed economic data continued to unnerve buyers and sellers as they found it hard to make their next move, traders said. The restart of Taiwanese Formosa's No 2 and 3 naphtha crackers remained unclear after an outage forced Asia's top naphtha buyer to shut them on Wednesday. |
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