SINGAPORE: Asia's naphtha crack extended gains to a three-session high of $70.75 a tonne on Friday after hitting a near seven-month low earlier this week.
- Buyers came forward to capitalize on high supplies and weak prices, seeking term and spot cargoes.
- South Korea's YNCC was in the market seeking spot cargoes for second-half March delivery and was seen paying a discount of around 50 cents a tonne to Japan quotes on a cost-and-freight (C&F) basis for at least 50,000 tonnes, traders said.
- This would be the first discount given to South Korean buyers since August.
- In Taiwan, the discounts given to Formosa by sellers widened.
- Formosa, Asia's top naphtha importer, paid around $2.50 to $3 a tonne for cargoes scheduled for second-half March delivery to Mailiao, making this the lowest price it has paid since Aug. 10.
- "High naphtha supplies could persist for at least another month. We need to see if the gasoline season would lift naphtha sentiment," said a trader.
- Formosa has an outstanding tender to buy cargoes for a six-month period starting July while South Korea's KPIC and Singapore-based PCS could also be looking to buy cargoes for term delivery.
TENDERS: India's Oil & Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) sold 35,000 tonnes of naphtha for March 6-7 loading from Mumbai at premiums of about $6.50 a tonne to Middle East quotes on a free-on-board (FOB) basis, likely to Gunvor, traders said.
- This could not be directly confirmed as buyers and sellers do not typically comment on their deals but this would be the lowest premium for ONGC since it sold a cargo last year for end August 2017 loading from the same port.
GASOLINE: Asia's gasoline crack, similar to naphtha, rose and reached a four-session high of $9 a barrel supported by weaker oil prices.
- But gasoline stocks across regions went higher.
- Gasoline stocks independently held in the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA) hub surged 10 percent to around a 9-1/2 month high of 1.16 million tonnes in the week to Feb. 2, data from Dutch consultancy PJK International showed on Thursday.
- Weekly gasoline stocks held in major hubs from Singapore to Fujairah, the US and now ARA were also up.
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