Asia's naphtha refining margin rose to the highest level since early June on Tuesday due to weakness in crude oil benchmarks and renewed buying interest from China, traders and analysts said.
The crack rose to $113.80 per metric ton over Brent crude, compared with about $106 a day earlier. Market continued to trade in contango price structure as supplies at the prompt remained ample.
In gasoline market, the refining margin traded firm at about $27 per barrel over Brent crude as demand from key importers like Indonesia supported prices.
In tenders, Pertamina sought up to 1 million barrels of 92-octane grade of gasoline, market participants said.
A Vietnamese buyer sought two parcels of gasoline loading during July 26-30 and August 3-9 in a tender that is valid until Tuesday, they added.
NEWS
- A fire at India's Haldia Petrochemicals plant has injured several people, the company said in a statement on Tuesday. The company said operations are not affected so far by the fire.
- Japanese oil refiner Idemitsu Kosan shut a 140,000 barrels-per-day crude distillation unit at its Hokkaido refinery in northern Japan on June 24 for scheduled maintenance, a company spokesperson said.
SINGAPORE CASH DEALS
One naphtha trade.
PRICES
CASH ASIA CLOSE Change Prev Close RIC | OSN Naphtha CFR Japan M1 ($/mt) 660.25 9.25 651.00 (NAF-1H-TYO) | OSN Naphtha CFR Japan M2 ($/mt) 668.00 9.25 658.75 (NAF-2H-TYO) | OSN Naphtha Diff ($/mt) -7.75 0.00 -7.75 (NAF-TYO-DIF) | Naphtha Netback FOB Sing ($/bbl) 71.36 1.03 70.33 (NAF-SIN) | Naphtha-Brent Crack ($/mt) 113.80 7.75 106.05 (NAF-SIN-CRK) | Gasoline 97 ($/bbl) 103.49 -0.42 103.91 (GL97-SIN) | Gasoline 95 ($/bbl) 101.98 -0.42 102.40 (GL95-SIN) | Gasoline 92 ($/bbl) 100.00 -0.42 100.42 (GL92-SIN) | Gasoline crack ($/bbl) 27.14 -0.62 27.76 (GL92-SIN-CRK) | For a list of derivatives prices, including margins, please double click the RICs below. | Brent M1 (BRENTSGMc1) | Naphtha CFR Japan M1 (NACFRJPSWMc1) | Naphtha CFR Japan M1/M2 (NACFRJPSDMc1) | Naphtha CFR Japan M2 (NACFRJPSWMc2) | Naphtha Japan-Sing Netback M1 (NAPTC4SPDMc1) | Naphtha Japan-Sing Netback M2 (NAPTC4SPDMc2) | Naphtha FOB Sing M1 (NAFOBSGSWMc1) | Naphtha FOB Sing M1/M2 (NAFOBSGSDMc1) | Naphtha FOB Sing M2 (NAFOBSGSWMc2) | Naphtha Cracks M1 (NACFRJPCKMc1) | East-West Naphtha M1 (NAPJPEWMc1) | East-West Naphtha M2 (NAPJPEWMc2) | NEW Naphtha M1 (NAPCNWEAMc1) | NEW Naphtha M1/M2 (NAPCNWEASMc1) | NEW Naphtha M2 (NAPCNWEAMc2) | Crack NEW Naphtha-Brent M1 (NAPCNWEACMc1) | Crack NEW Naphtha-Brent M2 (NAPCNWEACMc2) | *Sing refers to Singapore |