Saudi Aramco skips renewal of term contracts for the first time on 3 grades

03-Jul-13

Saudi Aramco skipped renewing a half-yearly contract on three out of five naphtha grades for the first time with its Asian buyers and will instead sell them in the spot market, as per sources in Reuters. Saudi Aramco usually offers five grades - A310, Jubail, Rabigh, A180 and Jeddah - on half-year term contracts. Some buyers have accepted the Rabigh and Jeddah grades lifting July to December 2013 at premiums of about US$31-32/ton to its own price formula on a free-on-board (FOB) basis. The premiums are steady to slightly lower to the term deals done for the two grades for the first half of the year.