SINGAPORE: Asia’s naphtha crack gained for a second session on Tuesday, while traders eyed more purchase tenders from North Asian buyers to gauge price direction this month.

Naphtha arbitrage supplies from west arriving in Asia in March are about 1.68 million tonnes so far, nearing the 2 million tonnes each in January and February, data on Refinitiv Eikon showed. Traders flagged concerns that a narrowing east-west spread may curb supplies from Europe although US exports to Asia remained robust.

South Korea’s YNCC has sought open-spec naphtha for second-half March or first-half April delivery in a tender that closed on Tuesday. This comes after LG Chem bought an open-spec naphtha cargo for first half of April delivery at a premium of 70-75 cents a tonne to Japan quotes on a cost-and-freight (C&F) basis, based on 60 days pricing.

India’s Reliance has sold a 55,000-tonne naphtha cargo for Feb. 27-March 2 loading at $24 to $24.50 a tonne above Middle East quotes to Aramco Trading Co (ATC).