Asia's naphtha crack extended losses on Tuesday to reach a four-session low of $92.10 a tonne but it was still 19 percent higher than a month ago thanks to firm demand, Thomson Reuters data showed. Taiwan's Formosa Petrochemical Corp, Asia's top naphtha importer by volume, was seeking to buy open-specification naphtha with a minimum 70 percent paraffin content for December 2017 to December 2018 arrival at Mailiao through a tender closing on September 8. Offers will remain valid until September 15.
China's Unipec was back in the market, looking to buy naphtha for delivery October 1-20. Unipec bought a naphtha cargo late last week for end-September delivery at a mid-single-digit premium to Japan quotes cost and freight (C&F). Malaysia-based Titan was also in the market to buy spot naphtha.
South Korea's Korea Petroleum Industries Co (KPIC) has shut its 800,000 tonnes per year naphtha cracker because of an unplanned flaring incident, an source with direct knowledge of the matter said. Asia's gasoline crack was at a four-session low of $15.48 a barrel, nearly 33 percent higher than a month ago.
While threats posed by Tropical Storm Harvey subsided, Hurricane Irma headed towards the Caribbean and the southern United States on Tuesday. At least 4.2 million barrels per day (bpd) of refining capacity was still offline as of September 4 because of Harvey, though several refineries and other facilities were restarted or returned to normal operations on Sunday.
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