Asia's naphtha crack fell for a fourth straight session to hit a one-week low of $53.63 a tonne on Monday as weakness in the European market countered demand in the East. The European naphtha market has been under pressure from weak demand amid maintenance at three major petrochemical plants.
Affordable alternative liquefied petroleum gas feedstock has also hurt naphtha demand in Europe. However, spot premiums in Asia were faring better than a month ago. Taiwan's Formosa Petrochemical Corp bought about 100,000 tonnes of open-specification naphtha for June 1-10 arrival at Mailiao at premiums in the mid-single digit a tonne level to its own price formula on a cost-and-freight (C&F) basis.
This was the highest Asia's top naphtha importer has paid since July last year. Asia's gasoline in contrast to naphtha was at a one-week high of $7.45 a barrel as persistent strong demand in the United States ahead of summer driving season had lifted the market in the East. The latest weekly gasoline inventories in the United States showed that volumes were about 2 percent below the five-year average for this time of the year.