SINGAPORE: Asia’s naphtha crack eased to $53.98 a tonne and this was down by some 32% compared with a month earlier as the extended shutdown of crackers in South Korea continued to weigh.

But industry sources are expecting Lotte Chemical to restart a fire-hit cracker by December as the petrochemical maker had locked in spot cargoes for arrival at Daesan.

It had also previously said it will restart the cracker this year.

Asia’s gasoline hit a 3-1/3 month low of $1.13 a barrel as lockdowns in Europe which affected demand and possible higher stockpiles in the United States impacted the East.

Analysts estimated gasoline inventories likely rose 500,000 barrels last week, a preliminary Reuters poll showed on Monday.

China’s gasoline output in October in the meantime was down 4.7% year-on-year, official data showed.

This was despite China’s October crude oil throughput rising 2.6% year-on-year to 59.82 million tonnes, official data showed.

The Canadian province of Quebec said on Monday it will ban the sale of new gasoline-powered passenger cars from 2035, joining California and others in announcing moves to shift to electric vehicles and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.—Reuters