The Asian gasoline crack, or the price difference between the motor fuel and Brent crude, rose for a third straight session on Monday to a 7-1/2-month high on lower supply due to refinery maintenance. The gasoline crack was up 7 cents at $10.12 a barrel, Reuters data showed. As a result of Vietnam's sole Dung Quat refinery heading into maintenance in the second quarter, Saigon Petro bought 50,000 tonnes of gasoline for delivery over April to June at premiums ranging from 30-80 cents a tonne, on a free-on-board basis.
Saigon Petro usually buys an average of 10,000 tonnes a month, Reuters records showed. Naphtha values were unchanged on Monday, but traders said the outlook for the light distillate market is likely to weaken as a number of naphtha-fed crackers head into maintenance. "There is not much of a strong factor for the rest of April's cargoes as the demand outlook is weaker," a Japan-based trader said.
That said, requirements for second-half April delivery naphtha cargoes were still not fully met. Thus far, only South Korean LG Chem and Samsung Total have bought H2 April cargoes, totalling 75,000 tonnes. Samsung Total bought a cargo of naphtha with a minimum paraffinic content of 70 percent at a premium of $10-11 a tonne above Japanese spot quotes, cost-and-freight Daesan, traders said. In other tender news, India's ONGC is offering 35,000 tonnes of naphtha for loading over April 3-4 in a tender that will close on March 14.
Comments
Comments are closed.