Asian naphtha prices marginally rose on Thursday, but the prompt backwardation narrowed on fears that Asian petrochemical producers may switch to alternative feedstock due to the strengthening outright values. The key open-spec naphtha contract for second-half August was at $703 a tonne on a cost-and-freight (C&F) basis, up from $700.25 in the previous session.
The backwardation between the second halves of August and September, which indicates notional premium levels, fell to $3.00 from the previous session's $4.25, suggested weak market.
Some Asian petrochemical produces were seeking September delivery butane cargoes earlier this week when high naphtha prices had made the alternative feedstock attractive. The ICE Brent/naphtha crack largely unchanged at $155 a tonne for second-half August, from $156 in the previous session.
In tender news, India's Oil and Natural Gas Corp has offered 35,000 tonne cargo to be loaded from Mumbai during August 5-7, its first offer for August loading stem. ICE August Brent crude was down 13 cents at $72.92 a barrel by 0232 GMT, but it was 35 cents higher than Wednesday's Asian trading.
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.