China's Unipec, that had earlier cancelled a tender, returned to the market to buy. As a result, Asia's naphtha crack for front-month H1-January jumped more than 10% on Monday to reach US$66.3/ton, as per Reuters. The Chinese trader, had purchased an unusually large volume of over 300,000 tons previously for November to December delivery, bought a medium-range tanker size cargo for H2-December delivery to China but no other details were available.
Japan's Idemitsu Kosan was also in the market looking to buy a H2-December cargo for delivery to Tokuyama. Details were not clear but traders said both Idemitsu and Unipec would have paid a single digit discount to Japan quotes on a cost-and-freight (C&F) basis for their cargoes given that supplies were still plentiful. "The naphtha market is depressed, but traders will jump on any news that appears bullish," said a trader.
19-Nov-14 
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