The Asian naphtha margins eased on Thursday but demand from North Asian buyers remained firm, traders said. South Korea's LG Chem entered the market seeking 22,500 to 27,500 tonnes of open-specification naphtha for delivery into Daesan or Yeosu over first half of May, an industry source said. It was not clear who it bought the cargo from in a tender that closed earlier on Thursday.
Taiwan's Formosa Petrochemical Corp bought naphtha for delivery in the second half of April at a discount of $1 a tonne to Japan quotes, compared with a premium of $4 a tonne it paid for a cargo loading in the first half of April, traders said. South Korea's YNCC sealed a term deal to buy naphtha for April 2017 to March 2018 delivery at a discount of $3 to $3.50 a tonne to Japan quotes on a cost-and-freight basis, traders said.
This is stable compared with the discount of $3 to $4 a tonne it had paid last year for a 12-month contract that expires this month. Still, supply was ample with India's Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) and Indian Oil Corp offering cargoes in the spot market, traders said. Vietnam's top fuel importer bought 30,000 tonnes of 92-octane gasoline and 25,000 tonnes of 95-octane gasoline for loading from South Korea in first half of May at a premium of over $1 a barrel to Singapore quotes, industry sources said. This is a big jump from the 10 cents a barrel premium the importer paid for the motor fuel for March cargoes, they added.