Naphtha crack in Asia hits one month high, spikes past US$72/ton

21-Mar-16

Naphtha crack in Asia for front-month H1-May extended gains on Thursday for the third consecutive session to reach its highest in a month at US$72.3/ton, with traders citing fewer Western cargoes as a reason, as per Reuters. Asia is still grappling with ample supplies as the monthly average of Western cargoes arriving in Q1 and Indian exports for January to March have been higher than usual. China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) was thought to be seeking H2-April and H1-May naphtha cargoes through a tender closing on Friday, traders said. This could not be directly confirmed as the Chinese firm does not comment on its deals. But South Korea, Asia's top importer of naphtha as a country, has not yet issued any tenders to buy H1-May cargoes. Indian Oil Corp (IOC) has sold 27,000 tons of naphtha for April 9-11 loading from Chennai to Gunvor at a premium of about US$1.50/ton to its own price formula on a free-on-board (FOB) basis, traders said. This was in sharp contrast to the discount of US$7/ton for a cargo sold for end-March loading from the same port. But neither the price for the April Chennai cargo nor the buyer's identity could be confirmed as IOC and Gunvor do not comment on their transactions, as per Reuters.