Asia's gasoline firms after returning to premium

Asia's gasoline crack rose for the fifth straight session to reach a 12 cents premium to Brent on Wednesday, its highest level since March 13 as demand was gradually recovering while exports from China were seen lower this month.

Asia's gasoline crack had persisted at a discount to Brent for nearly two months before flipping to the positive territory on Tuesday.

China's gasoline exports in May are seen around 1.1 to 1.3 million tonnes, based on FGE's data while an industry source who tracks the fuel said May shipment could even fall below the 800,000 tonnes mark.

Asia's naphtha crack rose to a near three-week high of $31.90 a tonne as improved gasoline demand and strong buying interest from the petrochemical sector provided support.

A fire broke out on Tuesday at a catalyst plant in LG Chem's petrochemical complex in the southwestern city of South Korea, leaving a worker dead.

This came in the same month where a gas leaked from LG Chem's petrochemical factory operated by LG Polymers in India had killed more than 10 people and making more than hundreds of people sick.

LG Polymers uses styrene monomer as a feedstock to produce polystyrene products which are used in manufacturing electric fan blades, cups and cutlery.