Asia's naphtha crack and gasoline cracks rose for a second straight session on Monday as refinery maintenance in the Middle East lent some support, industry sources said. The naphtha crack was up 1.9% to reach a four-session high of $59.50, while the gasoline margin was at a three-session high of $4.20 a barrel.
Demand for naphtha however was muted as buyers had recently replenished their stocks, with several deals last week. Despite cracker run cuts across Asia, naphtha spot premiums have not weakened as much as previously expected as maintenance in the Middle East, including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), kept supplies tight. In tenders, Hengyuan sold 12,000 tonnes of catalytic cracked gasoline for March 22-28 loading from Port Dickson, Malaysia, at a small discount to Singapore 92-octane quotes on a free-on-board (FOB) basis, industry sources said.
In January it sold two cargoes of catalytic cracked gasoline for February loading at discounts of about $1.50 a barrel, the sources added. India's Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) has an outstanding tender to sell two 35,000-tonne naphtha cargoes for March 9-10 and March 19-20 loading from Mumbai and Kochi respectively. Analysts said India may have to revise down its fuel demand growth projection for 2020/21, with gasoline demand in India expected to slow to 8.4% in 2020/21 from a projected 9% for this fiscal year.
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