Asia's naphtha crack recovered 6 percent to reach a two-session high of $63.78 a tonne on Thursday, though growing supply has served to keep the figure to about half of the level at the same time last year. South Korea's YNCC bought four naphtha cargoes totalling an average of 100,000 tonnes for delivery in the second half of October to Yeosu at discounts within a $5 to $6 a tonne range to Japan quotes on a cost-and-freight (C&F) basis, among the lowest prices in South Korea since January.
Qatar's Tasweeq, meanwhile, has offered up to 225,000 tonnes of spot naphtha for October loading. This is an unusually large amount for a seller that prefers to tie up cargoes through term agreements with Asian buyers. Traders said the high spot volumes could be a result of some buyers wanting to reduce term volumes or drop their contracts as the weak fundamentals have discouraged them from committing to seemingly high contract premiums.
"Tasweeq wanted to renew quarterly term prices at about a $13 a tonne premium, which to the buyers were too high given the current climate," one trader said. India's Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) sold 35,000 tonnes of naphtha for loading September 22-23 from Mumbai to Petro-Diamond at a premium of about $3.50 a tonne to Middle East quotes on a free-on-board (FOB) basis. This was four times lower than the amount ONGC received for a July cargo sold out of Mumbai to Itochu.
ONGC had skipped naphtha exports from Mumbai in August, Reuters data showed. The seller also exports naphtha from Hazira. Kuwait Petroleum Corp (KPC) sold 50,000 tonnes of full-range naphtha this week for September 22-23 loading to Siam Cement Group at premiums between $5 and $10, down from $13 a tonne from a cargo KPC sold for August 19-20 loading. Siam Cement Group owns a majority stake in Rayong Olefins Co.