Indian Oil Corp (IOC) has sold a total of 85,000 tonnes of naphtha for November loading at narrower discounts or slight premiums against its last sales, a trading source said on Monday. One cargo was sold at a premium of 28 cents a tonne to Middle East spot quotes, on a free-on-board (FOB) basis for 30,000 tonnes for November 5-10 loading from Kandla.
The second was done at a discount of $2.22 a tonne to the same quotes, FOB, for 30,000 tonnes for November 16-20 lifting from Kandla; and the third was sold at a 30-cent premium for 25,000 tonnes for November 22-26 loading from Mumbai, the source said.
Traders said the market started to show some improvement, although others said the market was still weighed down by cargoes to be sold for front-month November loading.
"As regional crackers are returning after their scheduled maintenance, the market is strengthening," a trader said. However, the Brent/naphtha crack for second-half November was notionally assessed at $76.85 a tonne versus $78.00 on Friday, underscored by some 300,000 tonnes of naphtha offers by Indian refiners via tenders for November loading over the past week, including the 85,000-tonne sales by IOC.
"The market is still weak as there were some cargoes waiting to be sold for November," another source said.
News that South Korea's top oil refiner SK Corp might extend the shutdown period for its 620,000 tonnes per year (tpy) No 2 naphtha cracker beyond one week for repairs also depressed sentiment.
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