Asian naphtha ends previous week below US$700 levels

25-Jun-12

Naphtha spot prices in Asia fell to a 21month low on Friday to below US$700/ton (€560/ton), tracking the losses of global energy values and perpetually bearish sentiment, as per ICIS. The bearish sentiment was partly a result of the outage at Formosa Petrochemical Corp (FPCC)’s Mailiao complex and also abundant spot offers from the Middle East and Indian refiners, they added. Looking at the current bad shape of the naphtha market, it is difficult to predict its recovery path.The spread between the naphtha contracts for the H1-August and H1-September was assessed at a contango of minus $2/ton on Thursday, while the inter-month spread between the naphtha contracts for the H2-August and H2-September was assessed at a contango of minus $2.50/ton.