August delivery naphtha from Europe to Asia totals 640,000 tons in August

28-Aug-12

An eighth tanker was scheduled to transport naphtha from Europe to Asia in August according to shipbroker data reported in Bloomberg. This has taken the total volume of naphtha loading in August for delivery to Asia to about 640,000 metric tons. This is one more than booked last week. Bookings are provisional and subject to change or cancellation. The East-West spread (premium of European naphtha to Asian prices) fell to US$2.62/ton on Aug. 24, the smallest difference in four months, signaling lower profit from transporting cargoes. This is also an indication of satiated naphtha demand in Asia.The spread averaged US$9.38 in August, and US$15.91 in July. 410,000 tons of naphtha found its way to Asia in July from Europe.