SINGAPORE: Pressure grew on Asia's naphtha with the prompt intermonth spread widening to $4.75 a tonne on Tuesday from $4.50 from the previous session as ample supplies dragged.
In Japan, JX Nippon Oil & Energy Corp restarted the 443,000 tonnes per year (tpy) naphtha cracker at its Kawasaki plant on Oct. 2 following a scheduled maintenance which took place on Aug. 1. The cracker was originally scheduled to restart on Sept. 28.
The restart came about a week after Formosa Petrochemical Corp, Asia's top naphtha importer, has restarted a 1.03 million tpy cracker.
"Demand in fourth quarter is expected to be better than third quarter now that the two crackers are back," said a naphtha trader. But he added that additional supplies could however weigh on the market.
Qatargas, the world's largest LNG producer, will start operations at its new 146,000 barrels per day Ras Laffan 2 condensate splitter by the end of this month following a delay.
Hyundai Oilbank is also to start-up a new condensate splitter this quarter.
The main oil product coming out of a condensate splitter is naphtha.
GASOLINE GAINS
Asia's gasoline crack edged up 3.2 percent to a two-session high of $7.34 a barrel, but this was down by nearly 50 percent compared to a year ago when the value was at $14.55.
Higher production this year, especially from China, has weighed on gasoline, traders said.
Ample supplies and a recent run-up in crude oil prices have also hit the overall Asian refining margins which tumbled to their lowest in nearly six weeks after touching a seven-month high in September.
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