Asia's naphtha price was at a four-session low on Monday, but cracks ended about 2.5 percent higher from last week's four-month low, but the marginal increase still reflected a weak sentiment. "I don't see the small increase as an improvement of the market, but rather cracks had fallen too much last week," said a trader.
"However, I am not expecting cracks to fall to, or below, $100 a tonne because petrochemical margins are still good. The question that remains is whether or not liquefied petroleum gas prices are workable or not." Most Asian crackers are able to replace an average of 10 percent of their naphtha feedstock with LPG. So far, most petrochemical makers still find the switch unworkable.
Gasoline cracks were at a 2-1/2 month low as bad weather in the West dampened sellers' sentiment, and that weighed on the Asian market. US gasoline stocks surged 6.15 million barrels to 236.23 million barrels in the week ended January 28, the highest level since 1993. Cold weather in parts of the US has curtailed long-distance driving.
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