NEW DELHI: Asia’s naphtha crack posted a weekly gain of about 79%, although the margin still traded at a discount due to oversupply and poor demand from petrochemical units, market watchers said.

The crack traded at a discount of $14.13 a tonne on Friday, up from a discount of $31.13 on Thursday. The gasoline crack in the region retreated from historic highs touched earlier this week to $34.85 a barrel.

Meanwhile, China’s June gasoline exports are on course to hit their highest level this year at 1.2-1.3 million tonnes, according to Refinitiv data.

“.Spike in Chinese outflows failed to dampen market sentiment, as the tight supply situation has persisted on the back of periods of prolonged demand recovery,” said Charles Ong, senior analyst at Refinitiv Oil Research.

Gasoline stocks held in independent storage in the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA) refining and storage area declined to 1.147 million tonnes in the week to Thursday from 1.163 in the prior week, data from Dutch consultancy Insights Global showed.

Naphtha inventories increased by 23,000 tonnes to 394,000 tonnes, data showed.