Asia could receive first naphtha shipments in three months

07-Sep-10

As demand from China increases, Asia could witness influx of naphtha cargoes from Europe after a gap of three months. Asian petrochemical companies are to import naphtha from Europe in September, as per Bloomberg. Naphtha shipments are likely to rise to 160,000 metric tons in September, from nil in July and August. About 300,000 tons was imported in June and 500,000 tons in May. After ebbing to the weakest level since early 2009, manufacturing in China accelerated in August as per the Federation of Logistics and Purchasing. Production of plastic goods and cars has risen by 15-20% in 2010 from 2009.