Naphtha price in Asia at four-session low in line with lower Brent crude

13-Jul-11

Asia's naphtha price was at a four-session low on Tuesday, dragged down by lower Brent crude, while physical timespreads remained in the negative zone for the fifth-straight week as high supplies failed to ease, as per Reuters. More spot cargoes were seen out of the Gulf with private negotiations going on, while China's WEPEC also came forward with an additional spot offer. WEPEC had likely by late Tuesday sold the 28,000-30,000 tons for Aug. 17-21 to an undisclosed buyer at a single-digit discount to Japan spot quotes on a free-on-board (FOB). WEPEC, a rare spot seller, had about two weeks ago sold to Glencore a cargo for Aug. 1-3 at steep discounts of US$11-13/ton. No spot requirements have been seen from Japan so far. The price for front-month H2 August dipped to US$957/ton, its lowest since last Wednesday at US$944.50/ton.