As buying interest gets increasingly robust, India's Mangalore Refineries and Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL) has fetched a premium of US$22/ton on a naphtha cargo of 90,000 tons for December-February lifting. This pegs the premium about three times higher vs premiums of US$6-7/ton on November spot cargoes. MRPL has sold the parcels by tender to an undisclosed oil major at a premium to Middle East quotes on a free-on-board (FOB) basis. About 30,000 tons of naptha per month will be lifted by the buyer from December-February.
Naphtha demand has perked up mainly due to improving demand for petrochemicals from China. This has led to an increase in demand for feedstock naphtha by polymer producers in South Korea, Japan and Taiwan, most of whom had kept their naphtha feedstock inventories low, due to original plans to reduce run rates at crackers.
13-Nov-09 
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