Asian naphtha cracks hit lowest in over four years

Asia's naphtha cracks fell to the lowest level in more than four years to $16.03 a tonne due to ballooning supplies. Spot prices continued to spiral down. India's Bharat Petroleum Corp (BPCL) sold 30,000 tonnes of naphtha for August 26-28 loading from Mumbai to Vitol at a discount of $4 to $5 a tonne to Middle East quotes on a free-on-board (FOB) basis.
The last time BPCL received similar discount levels was when it sealed a quarterly term contract for October to December 2014 cargoes. Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL) sold 25,000 tonnes of naphtha for August 22-24 loading from Mumbai at a discount of about $12.50 a tonne to Middle East quotes on a FOB basis to Total, once of the widest discounts HPCL has received in more than eight years. Supplies rose while demand slowed on cracker maintenance in Taiwan and Japan.