Malaysia-based Lotte Chemical Titan, a unit of South Korea's top ethylene maker Lotte Chemical, is seeking up to 130,000 tons of naphtha for July 2013 to June 2014 delivery, as per traders in Reuters. The timing of this tender coincides with a sharp fall in spot naphtha premiums for June cargoes from about three months ago when tight supply due to refinery maintenance and strong demand had pushed up prices to record-high levels. High volumes of western naphtha coming to Asia, seasonal peak refinery maintenance coming to an end in the East and the availability of alternative feedstock liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) have helped bring naphtha spot premiums down.
The volumes sought by Titan are lower than the 200,000 tons of full-range naphtha it bought last year for October 2012 to September 2013 delivery at about US$2/ton premium to Japan quotes on a cost-and-freight (C&F) basis.
22-May-13 
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