SINGAPORE: Asia's naphtha crack fell to a 1-1/2 week low of $29.13 a tonne as spot purchases for September cargoes slowed as most buyers have replenished stocks for the first half of September.
Apart from Asahi Kasei, few buyers have emerged to seek cargoes scheduled for second-half September delivery.
"There's maybe not much demand due to cracker turnarounds and LPG (liquefied petroleum gas)," said a source.
LPG prices have been low, giving petrochemical makers incentives to replace some of their naphtha feedstock with the former.
Formosa, Asia's top naphtha buyer, has scheduled a maintenance at its 1.03 million tonnes per year cracker from mid August to end September.
TENDERS: Bahrain's Bapco aimed to sell up to 75,000 tonnes of naphtha last week for Sept. 26-29 loading at premiums in the mid-teen a tonne level to Middle East quotes on a free-on-board (FOB) basis.
But it was unclear what final premiums Bapco fetched, sources said.
Bapco does not regularly export spot naphtha and the last deal done was for a June cargo sold for levels in the high teens a tonne premium.
Indian Oil Corp has offered 35,000 tonnes of the fuel for Aug. 28-30 loading through a tender closing on Aug. 7.
This brings its total volumes for August to 97,000 tonnes, the highest monthly exports from Chennai since May 2015.
Kuwait offered 28,000 tonnes of light naphtha for Aug. 6 delivery.
CASH DEALS: One gasoline deal and one on naphtha.
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