June naphtha exports from India almost half on month, rapid rebound likely

31-Jul-19

India- a key naphtha exporter in Asia, shipped 521,364 m tone of naptha in June, down sharply from a near two-year high of 916,605 m tons in May, latest government data was reported by S&P Global Platts . Exports In July 2017 were pegged at 916,776 m tons. Despite the month-on-month slide in June, naphtha exports over January-June totaled 4.35 mln mt, up from 4 mln mt in H1 2018, the data showed.

The average overall capacity utilization rate at refineries in India stood at 99% in June, down from 107.5% a year earlier, due to turnarounds at several plants in the month, S&P Global Platts data showed. The maintenance in June came on the heels of India's naphtha exports hitting a near two-year high in May amid a surge in volumes shipped by Reliance Industries. Reliance shipped at least 385,000 mt of naphtha in May -- more than half of India's total exports -- from Sikka due to maintenance at its Jamnagar reformer unit. With the maintenance at refineries now largely completed, traders and shipping industry executives said India's naphtha exports were already on the path to recovery.
Suppliers have already sold at least 384,000 mt of naphtha for August loading -- more than half the total exported in June -- according to data collated by Platts from open tenders issued to date.