Asian naphtha price steadied at US$952.50/ton on Wednesday and despite margins having eased to a three-session low of US$135.68/ton, weighed down by higher Brent crude, as per Reuters.
Fundamentally, traders said prompt naphtha supplies were tight although the upcoming festive season will likely cause a slow-down in purchases. Strength of the naphtha market was reflected in the deals done out of China and India. Taiwan's Formosa Petrochemical Corp has wrapped up its purchase for cargoes delivering on Jan. 21 to Feb. 5 at premiums of US$11-12/ton to Japan quotes on a free-on-board (FOB) basis for volumes in the range of 100,000-150,000 tons. Slightly stronger demand for naphtha was seen in Japan, where official data showed that November naphtha imports at nearly 1.2 mln tons were up marginally from about 1.15 mln tons in October.
20-Dec-12 
