SINGAPORE: Asia's naphtha physical remained at a discount for the fourth straight session after flipping into the negative zone for the first time last week in more than a decade due to weaker-than-expected demand caused by cracker shutdown.
Benchmark open-specification naphtha margin were at a discount of $3.50 a tonne to Brent crude, a marked increase compared to discounts of $15.38 and $9.80 on Friday and Monday, respectively.
Buying interest emerged and LG Chem is expected to restart its mega-scale cracker next week after shutting it down unexpectedly last week.
South Korea's YNCC bought more than 50,000 tonnes of open-specification grade cargoes for second-half July delivery to Yeosu at discounts of about $5.75 a tonne to Japan quotes on a cost-and-freight (C&F) basis, lowest price it has paid since December 2018.
This came a day after KPIC resumed purchases after an absence of at least two months.
KPIC bought on Monday a full-range naphtha cargo for first-half August arrival at Onsan at a single-digit a tonne discount to Japan quotes on a cost-and-freight (C&F) basis.
The petrochemical maker was last seen with tenders to buy March cargoes which it bought at premiums.
SUPPLIES: More Middle Eastern cargoes were seen in May at up to 2.7 million tonnes, making this the highest for 2019, said a weekly note by the Refinitiv Oil Research team.
Western cargoes arriving in Asia this month are expected to be within a range of 1.2 to 1.3 million tonnes, making this the lowest monthly arrivals in about a year as weak spot prices kept cargoes in check.
TENDERS: India's MRPL has offered 35,000 tonnes of naphtha for June 26-28 loading from New Mangalore through a tender closing on June 14.
It's parent company ONGC has an outstanding tender to sell 35,000 tonnes for June 20-21 loading from Mumbai through a tender closing on June 13.
CASH DEALS: One gasoline deal and one on naphtha.
REFINERY NEWS: PetroChina's Liaoyang Petrochemical has shut its 10 million tonnes per year refinery which specialises in processing Russian crude for a 39-day maintenance.
The state refiner has however started up its expanded Huabei refinery which now processes 10 million tonnes of crude a year after preliminary testing, the state-run Economic Information Daily reported.
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