Asia's naphtha cracks extended gains to hit a five-week high of $83.80 a tonne, supported by demand and shutdown of Qatar's 146,000 barrel per day condensate splitter at Ras Laffan No 1 refinery. The condensate unit produces more than 200,000 tonnes of naphtha a month.
SPOT DEALS: South Korea's Hanwha Total and LG Chem were seeking naphtha for May delivery but results were unclear. These came a day after GS Caltex had paid about $4 a tonne premium to Japan quotes on a cost-and-freight (C&F) basis and Japan's Idemitsu had paid between $3 and $4 above Japan quotes on a C&F basis for naphtha delivering in second-half May in the previous session.
Vietnam's Petrolimex was looking to buy a total of 49,000 tonnes of 95-octane gasoline for May and June delivery through a tender closing on April 5. The volumes comprise three cargoes, one of which was for 25,000-tonne cargo for May 26-30 lifting from either South Korea, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia or Van Phong terminal in Vietnam. Another 14,000-tonne cargo was to be delivered to Hongai between June 1-5 and a 10,000-tonne cargo scheduled for June 12-16 arrival at Nha Be. Asia's gasoline crack hit a nearly seven week high of $11.24 a barrel as refinery outages in Qatar and United Arab Emirates and strong demand for the fuel in the West drove the value higher. Four gasoline deals, all for April 19-23 loading with deals done at $64.00 to $64.20 a barrel.