Bangladesh to skip naphtha exports in October for the third consecutive month

31-Jul-13

Bangladesh's Eastern Refinery Ltd will skip exporting naphtha in October, for the third straight month, as plant maintenance and repair work continue, as per Reuters. The loss will be easily filled in the market as high volumes of naphtha will continue to stream into Asia from Europe, the United States and the Mediterranean. Since the start of the year, Asia has been receiving an average of 1 mln tons of naphtha a month from the west in the last six months. On an average, the markets see exports of one 170,000 barrel naphtha cargo about every 45 days. The 1.5 mln tpa refinery, a subsidiary of state-owned Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation, Bangladesh’s sole refiner, carries out maintenance once every two years. The refinery was shut on July 25 and the shutdown will last for about 40 days. The plant will require another two months after resuming operations before it is able to export naphtha.