SINGAPORE: Asia's naphtha crack fell for a fourth straight day on Friday to remain at a two-month low of $51.13 a tonne on an unrelenting glut.
Malaysia-based Titan has bought naphtha for second-half June delivery to Pasir Gudang and traders estimated the levels to be around $9 to $10 a tonne below Japan quotes on a cost-and-freight (C&F) basis.
Titan had bought a first-half June naphtha cargo in late April at a discount of about $5.
The deals could not be directly confirmed because buyers do not comment on their trades.
"We could see a weak naphtha market lasting through most of third quarter," one Singapore-based trader said.
Last year naphtha cargoes scheduled for June 2015 delivery to Asia were traded at premiums as high as nearly $9, with the exception of discounted deals with Taiwan's Formosa.
In Singapore, one naphtha cash deal was done, with BP selling to Totsa a cargo for first-half July delivery.
GASOLINE AT TWO-WEEK LOW
The gasoline crack hit a two-week low of $7.35 a barrel despite the approach of the peak demand season for petrol. The crack stands at about 55 percent of the value for the same period last year.
There were six Singapore cash deals for gasoline, totalling 300,000 barrels, but some of the cargoes could be stored on tankers until actual demand picks up.
Land storage in Singapore has mostly run out because of high refinery output and cargoes not moving fast enough, traders said.
Unipec, which has floating gasoline storage, bought from Trafigura a 92-octane grade gasoline cargo for May 21-25 loading at $52 a barrel.
Shell, which shut a refining unit at its 500,000 barrel per day Bukom plant in Singapore, bought four of the six cargoes traded.
It was unclear if the oil major has restarted the refinery unit, but traders said it is likely that the unit remains offline, as with its steam cracker, which was shut last year to repair external corrosion.
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