Asian naphtha rose to a month's high on Friday, while cracks reverted to their premium status on after flipping into a discount two days ago as traders expect supplies to tighten on robust demand.
South Korean petrochemical firms are expected to continue replenishing February stocks, with YNCC forking out $11.00 a tonne premium to Japan spot quotes on a cost-and-freight (C&F) basis for 25,000 tonnes open-spec cargo for first-half February arrival on December 30.
JAPAN OPEN-SPEC NAPHTHA: Prices for front-month second-half February jumped $43.00 to $333.00 a tonne, their highest since November 27, while the half-month backwardation between second-half February and first-half March narrowed $2.00 to $5.00 a tonne.
CRACK SPREAD: Cracks - the profit or losses of refining ICE Brent into naphtha - flipped into a premium of $2.63 a tonne versus $4.00 a tonne discount on Wednesday.
CASH TRADES: In cash trading, Cargill sold a first-half March cargo to Itochu at $328.00 a tonne. Cargill bought a second-half February parcel from Sempra at $311.00 and a first-half March cargo from Sietco at $305.00 a tonne on December 30.
REFORMING MARGINS: The gasoline's premium to naphtha extended gains, this time by $1.92 to a almost two-week high at $9.22 a barrel on strong demand from the Middle East, Indonesia and Africa. Indonesian Pertamina's 125,000 barrels per day (bpd) refinery suffered an outage and was not able to operate smoothly after a 57-day maintenance, which started in mid-October.
CRACKS: Cracks - the value oGASOLINE CASH TRADES: Deals resumed, with Sietco buying two 97-octane cargoes, one for January 23-27 loading from Trafigura at $49.90 a barrel, and another for January 18-22 lifting from Glencore at $50.60 a barrel.