Asia's naphtha crack hit fresh one month high of $44.10 a tonne on Wednesday, as strong demand for the fuel persisted.
At least four more buyers were out seeking naphtha for delivery in the first half of July.
Industry sources said KPIC paid flat to Japan quotes on a cost-and-freight (C&F) basis, while LG Chem forked out a premium of about $2 a tonne to Japan quotes on a C&F basis.
Hanwha Total and GS Caltex paid premiums around $3 a tonne or slightly more than $3 a tonne to Japan quotes on a C&F basis for heavy full-range grade.
These purchases came in the same week when YNCC and Asahi Kasei had also bought naphtha for July delivery.
India's Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) sold 35,000 tonnes of naphtha for June 14-15 loading from Kochi on late on Tuesday to Japan's Marubeni at premiums of around $15 to $16 a tonne to its price formula on a free-on-board (FOB) basis.
BPCL had previously sold a cargo for May 4-5 loading from the same port to Glencore at a premium of about $42.
ADNOC has finalised its July-December naphtha premiums at $17 to $20 a tonne to its own price formula on a FOB basis.
Asia's gasoline crack hit a two-week low at a discount of $1.92 a barrel to Brent crude as supplies still outpaced demand despite some recovery seen as countries around the world eased lockdown measures that were enforced to curb the spread of COVID-19.
China exported a record high of 1.9 million tonnes of gasoline in April, official data showed, as Chinese refiners cranked up throughput.
But China's May gasoline exports are expected to dive to multi-month lows as its domestic demand picks up.

Copyright Reuters, 2020

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