Asian naphtha crack lower

The Asian naphtha crack ended 2.2 percent lower on Friday at $149.30 a tonne after hitting a five-week high in the previous session due to limited spot barrels in the market. But traders said the market was not expected to stay strong for long as it usually weakens when Asia's top naphtha importer Formosa shuts any of its three crackers, even if it is for planned maintenance.
The Taiwanese firm will shut the largest of three crackers - a 1.2 million tonnes per year (tpy) unit - from August 16 to end September for a 45-day maintenance, traders said. They added that the key reason behind the recent naphtha strength was because traders had limited spot barrels on hand to supply petrochemical makers who were in need of cargoes. Concerns over additional naphtha supplies coming from two new condensate splitters in South Korea had discouraged traders from buying too many cargoes.