The Asian naphtha margin fell on Friday on the back of higher arbitrage volumes expected into Asia but spot demand from China and firm demand from Japanese and South Korean petrochemical makers kept losses in check, trade sources said.
China's CNOOC Trading is seeking 80,000 tonnes of open-specification naphtha for delivery in either second half of January or first half of February, next year, a tender document showed. The tender closes on December 18 and with same-day validity.
Japan's naphtha imports for the petrochemical sector rose 12 percent in November from the same month a year ago, government figures showed on Friday. Imports of naphtha for ethylene production totalled 1.22 million tonnes last month up from 1.09 million tonnes in the year-ago period, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said.
Japanese ethylene production in November rose 0.7 percent from the same month a year earlier to 561,600 tonnes, data from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry showed on Friday. Ethylene, made from naphtha, is a basic feedstock for petrochemicals that are processed into products such as plastics.
Indonesia's gasoline demand is expected to be robust in January with state-owned Pertamina entering the spot market seeking over 800,000 barrels of the fuel, trade sources said.
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