Asia's naphtha crack for front-month first-half June eased to $70.60 a tonne on Wednesday, mirroring a fall in Brent crude. But the naphtha spot price was mostly steady to firmer with South Korea's Lotte Chemical having bought a naphtha cargo for first-half June delivery to Yeosu at flat to a slight premium of 25 cents a tonne to Japan quotes on a cost-and-freight (C&F) basis.
The most recent price in South Korea was on April 11 when LG Chem bought a naphtha cargo for second-half May delivery at flat. More buyers are expected to follow Lotte Chemical's lead in buying cargoes for first-half June delivery. In Singapore, a raging fire has caused Jurong Aromatics' light crude oil tank, measuring 40 metres in diameter and 20 meters in height, to fold and buckle.
The company, which uses heavy naphtha to produce paraxylene, a raw material for textiles and bottles, went into receivership in September last year because of debt problems. But it was planning on restarting in May this year. Asia's gasoline crack recovered from a two-month low to reach a three-session high of $7.08 a barrel but heavy supplies remained a concern for sellers, especially with China likely to push more surplus to export markets. Sinochem Hongrun Petrochemical Co, a small independent refinery, has sold its first fuel export, a gasoline cargo, to Trafigura.
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