Asia's naphtha price was at its highest in more than two years on Tuesday, mirroring strong Brent crude supported by concerns Libya's revolt would spread in the Middle East, and cracks hit a two-week high on the tension. "Unrest in Libya has affected the European markets, which in turn created an impact on Asia," said a trader.
But others added that the market could be over-reacting, as it did when Egypt was in turmoil. South Korea's YNCC came forward to buy around 75,000 tonnes of naphtha for first-half April arrival at premiums of $2.00-$6.00 a tonne to Japan spot quotes on a cost-and-freight (C&F) basis, depending on the grades suppliers are providing.
Open-spec grade will be pegged at the lower end of the range, with light grade tagged to the higher end. But YNCC had shut the largest of its three naphtha crackers due to a glitch. "We may restart it later tonight or early tomorrow," said a company source.
Separately, traders said that GS Caltex, which operates the second largest refinery in South Korea, is aiming on getting onboard Platts physical naphtha window in Singapore. Gasoline cracks slipped to a two-session low, with limited spot demand seen from Vietnam recently. In China, its gasoline stocks edged down 1.4 percent at the end of January versus end December.
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