SK Energy sells February spot naphtha cargo at steep discount of US$22/ton

09-Jan-15

SK Energy, South Korea's top refiner, has sold a February spot medium-range vessel size naphtha cargo at a steep discount of US$22/ton to Japan quotes on a free-on-board (FOB) basis, making this one of the lowest in record for the refiner, as per Reuters. The Asian naphtha market has been flooded with supplies from Europe and the Mediterranean since September and traders said this was expected to continue as massive cargoes were still streaming in. The persistently weak fundamentals also promoted India's Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) to cancel a tender to sell a total of 11,500 tons of naphtha for Jan. 15-21 loading from Haldia. BPCL also had to extend the validity of another tender to sell a cargo from Kochi, traders said on Thursday.