Asian naphtha premium moved higher on Wednesday, due to strong demand from petrochemical companies in Taiwan region and South Korea, which has eased the concern of oversupply for next few months.
According to market sources, earlier it was expected that naphtha procurement from China would decline, but refineries in the region have increased output since late February.
However, naphtha exporters say, at present, it will at least take 3 months for Chinese petrochemical feedstock companies to complete stock supplement, thus easing worries for sharp drop in refinery profits after Chinese New Year.
China exports naphtha mainly to Petrochemical Companies in South Korea.
Naphtha price of Japanese open specifications for the second half of March contract rose to US $395 per ton, higher than the trade price of $391 in the previous session.
In the Singapore market prices of naphtha were pegged at $43.19 per barrel on January 19 and $42.08 per barrel on January 20, showcasing a fall by nearly $1.11 per barrel. In the Saudi Arabia region on January 19 naphtha prices were quoted at $364.06 per ton and on January 20, prices stood at $356.56 per ton, depicting a plunge of $7.5 per ton.
In the European region, naphtha prices were quoted at $371.5 per ton CIF/ARA, up $21.5 per ton On January 20. On this day, open specification spot cargoes were assessed at $350.25 per ton FOB Mediterranean Sea showing a surge of $22 per ton.
Fibre2fashion News Desk - China
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