India's MRPL sells March naphtha cargo at 13 month low premium; glut may ease

01-Feb-16

India's Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL) has sold a March naphtha cargo to Marubeni at about US$7.50/ton above Middle East quotes on a free-on-board (FOB) basis, making this the lowest premium the seller has received in about 13 months, as per Reuters. MRPL sold the 34,500 ton cargo to the Japanese trader late on Thursday for March 2-4 loading from New Mangalore. The premium was not only the lowest since February 2015, but also was over 50% lower than the average it had received for three cargoes sold for February 2016-loading, Thomson Reuters data showed. The new sale comes at a time when the market is hit by ample supplies but the glut is expected to ease due to brisk demand this week and low levels of cargoes arriving in Asia from the West including Europe, traders said. In the last four days, Taiwan's Formosa, South Korea's LG Chem and Hanwha Total and Malaysia-based Titan have bought a total of more than 150,000 tons of naphtha for H1-March delivery following muted trades in the previous week. More buyers have come forward to buy, with South Korea's Lotte Chemical looking to purchase first-half March naphtha and Taiwan's CPC seeking at least 70,000 tons of full-range and heavy grade naphtha for March 5-25 arrival at Kaohsiung.