The Asian naphtha crack climbed by about 2 percent to a three-session high of $68.85 a tonne on Monday, thanks to more demand although supplies were still healthy. South Korea's Lotte Chemical returned to the market on Monday to buy a first-half December open-spec naphtha cargo at about minus $13 a tonne to Japan quotes on a cost-and-freight (C&F) basis, traders said.
The cargo was likely scheduled for delivery to Yeosu. They added that Lotte Chemical has also bought a full-range naphtha cargo for delivery to Daesan but at about $11 a tonne below Japan quotes on a C&F basis. Full-range naphtha is usually more expensive than open-spec grade.
Lotte Chemical had less than a week ago bought naphtha for second-half November at similar levels of $13 a tonne, traders said. North Asian demand for naphtha has helped soak up some of the glut in the market, although supplies are still outpacing requirements. Asia is set to receive about 1.6 million tonnes of naphtha from the West in November. Although the projected volume is lower than the record quantity of 2 million tonnes seen in September and the 1.8 million tonnes in October, it will still outpace demand by about 200,000 tonnes a month, traders said.
Comments
Comments are closed.