SINGAPORE: Asia's naphtha crack was at a two-session high of $69.55 a tonne on Wednesday after falling to a four-session low in the previous session.
- Despite the rise, the current level reflects weak fundamentals as it is 26.5 percent lower from a month ago.
- South Korea's Lotte Chemical paid around $2 or slightly under $2 for cargoes scheduled for first-half April delivery.
- Lotte Chem had on Feb. 6 paid premiums of $1.25 and $2 a tonne for cargoes scheduled for second-half March delivery to Yeosu and Daesan.
- Lotte Chemical's purchase came a day after YNCC paid a premium of $1.50 a tonne to Japan quotes on a cost-and-freight (C&F) basis for the fuel scheduled for first-half April delivery.
- This was in stark contrast to the discount YNCC had paid on Feb. 9.
- Hanwha Total had also in the previous session bought at least two naphtha cargoes of a heavier grade at premiums of $6 and $7 a tonne to Japan quotes on a C&F basis respectively.
INDIAN EXPORTS: India exported 760,000 tonnes of naphtha in January, official data showed. This was India's highest monthly exports since October last year.
- The fresh export figure was about 2 percent higher than its 2017 monthly average at 746,000 tonnes.
GASOLINE: Asia's gasoline crack was at a three-session low of $7.54 a barrel.
INVENTORIES: US gasoline stockpiles were projected to have fallen 600,000 barrels last week, a preliminary Reuters poll showed on Tuesday.
- Light distillates inventories held at the Fujairah Oil Industry Zone were at a two-week low of 8.2 million barrels in the week to Feb. 19, data from S&P Global Platts showed.
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