Asia's naphtha rises to 1-1/2 weeks high

Asia's naphtha crack rose for a fourth straight session on Tuesday to reach its highest in nearly 1-1/2 weeks at $122.18 a tonne as persistent strong demand soaked up supplies. Taiwan's Formosa, also Asia's top naphtha importer, is looking to buy naphtha with a 77% minimum paraffin content for Jan. 21-31 arrival at Mailiao through a tender due to be awarded on December 12.

Malaysia-based Titan is also seeking the fuel, industry sources said. Spot premiums of naphtha cargoes have soared since last week after easing for a short period. India's BPCL, for instance, last Friday sold a cargo to Marubeni for Dec. 20-21 loading from Kochi at premiums of $51 to $51.50 a tonne to its own price formula on a free-on-board (FOB) basis and another cargo for Dec. 28-29 loading from the same port to Shell at premiums up to $60.50 a tonne.

This was near the 2013 record high of $61 a tonne that BPCL received for a cargo from Kochi, Reuters data showed. Industry sources said India's Reliance Industry has also recently sold a cargo for Jan. 9-11 loading at premiums of about $57 a tonne to Middle East quotes FOB, reflecting a sharp spike versus an October cargo Reliance previously sold to LG Chem at premiums in the high $20 region. Price details of Reliance cargoes sold for November and December were not available.