Naphtha crack in Asia recovers amid steady demand from North Asia

05-Jan-17

Naphtha crack in Asia recovered from the 1-1/2-week low it ebbed to on December 30 to touch a two-session high of US$74.08/ton on Tuesday as a steady stream of demand from North Asia helped soaked up some of the excess supply, as per Reuters. South Korea's Hanwha Total and Chinese trader Unipec were in the market for naphtha scheduled for second-half February and first-half February delivery respectively.

Unipec had bought a cargo last week for H2-January delivery. Hanwha Total was previously seen around the middle of December buying naphtha for H2-January arrival at Daesan. India's Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL) has offered 35,000 tons of naphtha for January 26-28 loading from New Mangalore in a tender closing on January 6. It has most recently sold a cargo for February 5-7 loading to Vitol at a premium of US$3 to $4/ton to Middle East quotes on a free-on-board (FOB) basis. MRPL has an outstanding purchase tender import 25,000 tons of reformate (a gasoline blending component) for February 5-15 arrival.