Asahi Kasei Chemicals Corp has secured naphtha supplies to meet the requirements of its 504,000 tpa Mizushima cracker until late August. The Japanese major will continue to import for September onwards, as per Reuters. As a result, the naphtha market is Asia has found support, with margins having risen nearly 10% to remain near a two-month high of US$93.30/ton premiums.
JX Nippon started shutting down refining units at the plant that supplies Asahi Kasei's cracker after discovering inspection records had not been properly kept. Asahi Kasei Chemicals usually gets some of its 135,000 tons of naphtha required for the cracker from JX Nippon Oil & Energy Corp. It imports about 50,000 tons a month of spot naphtha and holds a contract with the Middle East but the exact term volumes were not immediately clear.
18-Jul-12 
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