Naphtha crack in Asia rose to highest in 10 days amid reduced influx of cargoes

11-Jun-14

Naphtha crack in Asia rose for the fourth straight session to reach its highest in about 1-1/2 weeks at US$136.9/ton, with traders attributing the gains to fewer cargoes arriving in the East from Europe/the Mediterranean, as per Reuters. "But apart from a few handful reasons in support of the bulls, most other reasons were favourable to the bears," said a Singapore-based source, "Indian barrels are seen rising and there spot cargoes coming out of the Middle East were higher.” Kuwait has so far sold a total of 74,000 tons of naphtha for June lifting compared to 50,000 tons for May, while ADNOC recently had a rare spot cargo for H2-June lifting although the results were not known. South Korea's Lotte Chemical in the meantime has bought naphtha for H2-July delivery at a premium of US$12.50/ton to Japan quotes on a cost-and-freight (C&F) basis. The number of cargoes bought were not immediately clear but traders estimated to be around two to three cargoes at 22,500 to 27,500 tons each. Eyes were on Thailand's IRPC after it shut a vacuum gas oil hydro treating unit (VGO/HT) due to a fire at its 215,000 bpd Rayong plant. Repair works at the VGO/HT unit are expected to take at least three months but it was unclear if IRPC has any plans to reduce its refinery run rates.