Naphtha crack edges up as robust demand offset stronger Brent prices

27-Jul-17

Asia’s naphtha crack edged up 10 cents to a two-session high of U$$59.60/ton on Wednesday as robust demand offset stronger prices of raw material Brent crude. Taiwan’s Formosa Petrochemical Corp, Asia’s top naphtha importer, was in talks to buy naphtha for H1-September delivery to Mailiao. The tender is due to be awarded on July 27 but traders said Formosa could be looking at prices similar to its tender awarded previously.

Formosa had on July 19 paid a discount of about US$5 for 60,000 tons of open-specification naphtha for H2-August arrival at Mailiao.

Japan’s Idemitsu, on the other hand, had locked in first-half September naphtha at a discount of about US$2/ton to Japan quotes on a C&F basis. The buying interest from Taiwan and Japan came a day after South Korea’s Hanwha Total and YNCC had scooped up a total of about 100,000 tons of naphtha, also for H1-September arrival.

YNCC has returned to seek more naphtha under a term contract for cargoes with delivery to Yeosu from October 2017 to September 2018. It had in early July sealed a deal for 300,000 to 400,000 tons of naphtha scheduled for delivery to Yeosu from August 2017 to July 2018 at a low single-digit discount to Japan quotes on a C&F basis.