The Asian naphtha margin came under pressure and fell to a four-session low of US$115.9/ton due to heavy arbitrage supply and the prospect of declining demand in coming months, as per traders in Reuters. Asia will receive about 1.5 mln tons of naphtha from Europe and the Mediterranean in March. These levels are similar to February's levels, multiple cracker maintenance in the region is to displace some demand. A total of some 900,000 tons of naphtha cracker capacity will be lost between February and April because of the service shutdowns.
Despite the softer sentiment, Bahrain Petroleum Corp (Bapco) came forward with what is possibly its first spot cargo this year. It sold 50,000 tons of naphtha for H2-April lifting from Sitra to Chevron at premiums of nearly US$29/ton to Middle East quotes on a free-on-board (FOB) basis. The price and buyer's details could not be immediately confirmed with Bapco.
20-Feb-14 
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