Asia's naphtha price climbed to a two-session high from a two-session low the previous day, but cracks remained depressed, nearing a five-month low on weak fundamentals, as per Reuters. Gulf suppliers Kuwait Petroleum Corp (KPC) and ADNOC persevere with their talks with buyers, as both sides remain entrenched in their own price ideas. Kuwait has set its offers for full-range naphtha lifting April 2011 to March 2012 at US$21/ton above Middle East quotes on a free-on-board (FOB) basis, while ADNOC's offers for three naphtha grades were at US$19-21/ton above its own price formulas. However, buyers are said to be looking at about US$15/ton premiums, in view of the weak outlook, with a heavy cracker turnaround season.
Open Spec naphtha for front-month H1-April recovered by over eight dollars to US$881.50/ton while cracks eased by around 3 dollars to US$101.88/ton premium, lowest since Sept. 27.
18-Feb-11 
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