Asia's naphtha crack edged up to hover around one week high of $74.03 a tonne as demand returned following a temporary lull from South Korea, Asia's top importing country. GS Caltex bought heavy full-range naphtha for second-half December delivery at premiums in the low $20s a tonne level to Japan quotes on a cost-and-freight (C&F) basis.
This was lower compared to $29 a tonne premium it had paid on Oct. 22, Reuters data showed. Lotte Chemical, on the other hand, paid around $16 a tonne premium to Japan quotes on a C&F basis for some 75,000 tonnes of naphtha scheduled for second-half December delivery.
South Korean buyers did not issue any tenders to import naphtha for most of last week. Asia's gasoline crack fell from a near six-week low to reach a three-session low of $10.02 a barrel in line with weaker crude prices.
Demand in the US is expected to stay strong, with analysts projecting inventories to have fallen by 1.1 million barrels last week, which would be the seventh straight weekly fall in the country. Taiwan's CPC has restarted a gasoline-making unit this week after an extended maintenance but will skip exports in December as it seeks to build up stockpiles to meet domestic demand, industry sources said on Wednesday.
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