Asia's naphtha crack for front-month second-half April at $60.08 a tonne on Tuesday was the lowest front-month value in 1-1/2 weeks as the market remained awash with supplies, traders said. Too many European and Mediterranean naphtha cargoes were chasing Asian demand in the last months, they added.
"But volumes arriving in Asia next month from the West would be higher than March arrivals," said a Singapore-based trader.
Cargoes arriving in Asia in the first quarter were estimated at a total of about 5.4 million tonnes, or averaging 1.8 million tonnes a month versus an average of 1.7 million tonnes a month in 2015, Reuters data showed. The weak fundamentals have weighed on prices.