BPCL offers low aromatic naphtha in a rare one-year contract

11-Mar-14

Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) has offered a total of 456,000 tons of low aromatic naphtha in a one-year contract starting in April, which traders said was rare as the refiner usually offers cargoes on a spot and quarterly basis, as per economicimes.com. BPCL stated three options in its sell tender, which closes on March 10, with bids to stay valid until March 11. One option was for a total of three cargoes, each at 38,000 tons a month for April to June loading from Mumbai. The second option was for a six-month period starting in April and ending in September for one 38,000-ton a month cargo. The last option was for a one-year contract under which the buyer will lift a 38,000 ton cargo every month until March 2015. Spot naphtha cargoes are expected to tighten due to reduced shipments from Europe as it needs the light fuel for gasoline production. Asia is structurally short of naphtha and relies on the West to plug its supply gaps. Europe was exporting a monthly average of 1.1 mln tons of naphtha to Asia in 2013, double the volumes it had shipped to the East in 2012. Robust demand for petrochemicals will continue to support Asian naphtha premiums in 2014 and hold the market steady, traders and analysts said.