Naphtha margins dip in Asia

25-Jul-12

Naphtha price in Asia extended losses to reach US$850.50/ton on Tuesday, while naphtha margins dived 13.3% to a 2-1/2 week low of US$72/ton premium. Margins have dropped on a cracker outage and higher-than-expected Western exports arriving to the region as per Reuters. Japan's Maruzen Petrochemicals’Keiyo Ethylene unit has shut a 768,000 tpa naphtha cracker in Chiba. There was no schedule given for the restart of the cracker, a spokesman for Maruzen Petrochemical said. Some traders expected the mechanical issue to be resolved in about a week at its earliest. A 7-day shutdown would lead to a demand loss of about 48,000 tons of naphtha, assuming the unit was running at full capacity. This loss of demand this week has been coupled with arrival of more Western exports in Asia.