Taiwan's Formosa, South Korea's Hanwha buy naphtha; prices fall on supply

26-Oct-15

Taiwan's Formosa Petrochemical has bought about 100,000 tons of naphtha for H1-December arrival at Mailiao at a discount of about US$4/ton to Japan quotes on a cost-and-freight (C&F) basis, as per traders in Reuters. This was the lowest discount Asia's top naphtha importer has paid since Aug. 12. South Korea's Hanwha Total has also bought at least one naphtha spot cargo for the same delivery period, paying a discount steeper than US$2/ton to Japan spot quotes on a C&F basis, making this the first discount for a spot cargo delivery to the country since mid-September. Asian naphtha prices, which improved gradually in H2-September, were hit by large volumes of western cargoes arriving in November. About 1.9 mln tons of western naphtha are expected to arrive in the East next month, up by more than 20% from October.