SINGAPORE: Asia's naphtha crack for first-half January extended losses for the third straight day on Wednesday to reach a two-week low of $76.40 a tonne on expectations of more supplies becoming available.
Traders said the market was disregarding Qatar's failure to restart a 146,000 barrels per day condensate splitter in mid-November, where the bulk of the oil product yield is naphtha.
South Korea's Lotte Chemical bought a naphtha cargo for first-half January delivery to Yeosu at a premium of about $1 a tonne to Japan quotes on a cost-and-freight (C&F) basis and another cargo for the same period delivery to Daesan at a premium of $1.50.
The average premium that Lotte had paid was slightly lower when compared to LG Chem's purchases a day before.
LG Chem had on Tuesday paid about 75 cents premium for a cargo scheduled for first-half January delivery to Yeosu and over $2 a tonne for a cargo for the same delivery period to Daesan, traders said.
Taiwanese Formosa Petrochemical Corp, Asia's top naphtha importer, came forward shortly after Lotte Chemical's purchase to seek naphtha for first-half January arrival at Mailiao through a tender closing on Nov. 24.
Demand was healthy as operational rates in crackers are mostly high due to firm petrochemical margins.
Northeast Asian naphtha cracker margins -- the difference between the petrochemical's sales price and production costs -- are expected to reach near $600 per tonne of ethylene for non-integrated plants this year, senior analyst Aaron Cheong of consulting firm IHS Markit, said.
This is a 42.2 percent spike from 2015.
TENDERS: India's Essar Oil has sold up to 35,000 tonnes of naphtha for Dec. 19-23 loading from Vadinar to Marubeni at a premium of $13 to $14 a tonne to Middle East quotes on a free-on-board (FOB) basis.
This was higher compared to over $8 a tonne premium but below $10 for a cargo Essar Oil had previously sold for Nov. 14-18 loading from the same port.
Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) has sold 35,000 tonnes of naphtha for Dec. 11-12 loading from Mumbai to Vitol at a premium of $8.50 a tonne.
This was also higher when compared to a premium of $4 ONGC had previously received for a Nov. 4-5 cargo loading from the same port.
Indonesia's Pertamina, Asia's top gasoline importer, was seeking up to 770,000 barrels a month of 98-octane gasoline for either first-quarter 2017 delivery or January to June delivery through a tender closing on Nov. 29.
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