Asian naphtha crack for H2-Feb rises to 17 month high

07-Jan-16

Asia's naphtha crack for front-month H2-February rose to a 17-month high of US$148.28/ton on Tuesday, supported by concerns over sharply lower Western cargoes coming to the East, as per Reuters. Strong demand for European gasoline cargoes from the United States and Africa, coupled with Europe's own needs for naphtha to feed the petrochemical manufacturing sector, could limit Western naphtha exports, traders said. "Western naphtha arriving in Asia for now looks limited," said a Singapore-based trader. This follows a monthly record high of 2.2 million tonnes of Western naphtha being booked for January arrival in the East. "There are concerns over naphtha supplies in general although in Asia, I do not think that a lot of the naphtha has gone into the gasoline pool judging by the reforming margin," said another Singapore-based trader.