NEW DELHI: Asia’s naphtha refining profit margin continued to slide on Wednesday for a fifth straight session after Middle Eastern inventories rose.

The crack plunged to $15.78 a tonne, the lowest since May 2020 and down $23.53 from the last close.

Naphtha margins have been on the downtrend since the beginning of the month due to poor demand from petrochemical units and falling prices of rival feedstock liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), market watchers said.

Stocks of light distillates at Fujairah Oil Industry Zone (FOIZ) increased by 907,000 barrels to the highest level since Feb. 28 at 6.601 million barrels in the week to May 23, according to industry information service S&P Global Commodity Insights.

India’s state-owned BPCL offered 30,000 tonnes of naphtha for loading in second half of June from Kochi. The tender closes on May 26.

Another state-owned refiner Indian Oil Corp. issued a tender to sell 35,000 tonnes of heavy full-range naphtha for loading in first half of June. The tender closes on Wednesday.