The Asian naphtha crack rebounded from a three-week low to reach a one-week high of $97.98 a tonne due to a persistent supply crunch caused by low volumes of cargoes streaming to the East from Europe and the United States, traders said on Monday. South Korea's LG Chem was seeking naphtha for first-half April delivery to Daesan but results were not immediately clear.
"There could be very few offers in the market, which is currently strong at the moment," said a North Asian trader. Bad weather in Europe and the United States could have added to the supply crunch as this would cause shipments to be delayed. Strong fundamentals continued to support spot prices for Indian cargoes. Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd, for example, sold 35,000 tonnes of naphtha for March 15-17 loading from Mumbai to Marubeni at a premium of about $23 a tonne to Middle East quotes on a free-on-board (FOB) basis.
This was the highest premium BPCL had for a Mumbai naphtha cargo since July 2014. The refiner also sells naphtha from Kochi, where it has an outstanding tender to sell a 35,000-tonne cargo for March 26-28 loading through a tender which will close on February 25.
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