off-the-wire

CORRECTED-Asia Naphtha/Gasoline-Naphtha crack tumbles below $40/t as cheaper LPG weighs

Kitco Media
By Reuters
Published:
Updated:
Reuters
(Corrects unit in headline to tonne (not barrel)) NEW DELHI, April 19 (Reuters) - Asia's naphtha market plunged to a more than three-month low on Wednesday as weaker prices of alternative feedstock liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) hit demand for the product at petrochemical units, traders said. The profit margin on refining naphtha dropped by $4.55 to $37.03 a tonne over Brent crude oil, while the backwardation in markets narrowed by 50 cents to $6 a tonne. Swing petrochemical crackers can switch up to 10-20% of their feed to LPG to take advantage of cheaper raw material. At the Singapore deals window there were two offers for first-half July cargoes without any bids, resulting in no trades. There were no bids, offers or deals for gasoline. INVENTORIES Light distillate inventories at the Fujairah commercial hub rose by 1.395 million barrels to the highest in eight months at 8.565 million barrels in the week to April 17, S&P Global Commodity Insights data showed. U.S. gasoline stocks fell by about 1.02 million barrels, market sources said, compared with analyst expectations of a 1.3 million barrel decline. NEWS - Oil prices dropped sharply on Wednesday, sliding by 2% as potential U.S. interest rate hikes that could slow growth and curb oil consumption outweighed strong Chinese economic data and falling U.S. inventories.


- India and China have snapped up the vast majority of Russian oil so far in April at prices above the Western price cap of $60 a barrel, according to traders and Reuters calculations.
PRICES
CASH ($/T) ASIA CLOSE Change % Prev RIC Change Close
OSN Naphtha CFR 663.50 -12.50 -1.85 676.00 <NAF-1H-TY Japan M1 O> OSN Naphtha CFR 657.50 -12.00 -1.79 669.50 <NAF-2H-TY Japan M2 O> OSN Naphtha Diff 6.00 -0.50 -7.69 6.50 <NAF-TYO-D IF> Naphtha Netback FOB 71.72 -1.39 -1.90 73.11 Sing
Naphtha-Brent Crack 37.03 -4.54 -10.92 41.57 <NAF-SIN-C RK> Gasoline 97 100.98 -0.80 -0.79 101.78 Gasoline 95 99.49 -0.80 -0.80 100.29 Gasoline 92 95.40 -0.80 -0.83 96.20 Gasoline crack 11.87 0.26 2.24 11.61 <GL92-SIN- CRK>
For a list of derivatives prices, including
margins, please double click the RICs below.
Brent M1 <BRENTSGMc


1>
Naphtha CFR Japan M1 <NACFRJPSW


Mc1>
Naphtha CFR Japan <NACFRJPSD
M1/M2 Mc1>
Naphtha CFR Japan M2 <NACFRJPSW


Mc2>
Naphtha Japan-Sing <NAPTC4SPD
Netback M1 Mc1>
Naphtha Japan-Sing <NAPTC4SPD
Netback M2 Mc2>
Naphtha FOB Sing M1 <NAFOBSGSW


Mc1>
Naphtha FOB Sing <NAFOBSGSD
M1/M2 Mc1>
Naphtha FOB Sing M2 <NAFOBSGSW


Mc2>
Naphtha Cracks M1 <NACFRJPCK


Mc1>
East-West Naphtha M1 <NAPJPEWMc


1>
East-West Naphtha M2 <NAPJPEWMc


2>
NWE Naphtha M1 <NAPCNWEAM


c1>
NWE Naphtha M1/M2 <NAPCNWEAS


Mc1>
NWE Naphtha M2 <NAPCNWEAM


c2>
Crack NWE <NAPCNWEAC
Naphtha-Brent M1 Mc1>
Crack NWE <NAPCNWEAC
Naphtha-Brent M2 Mc2>

*Sing refers to
Singapore

(Reporting by Mohi Narayan Editing by David Goodman)

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect those of Kitco Metals Inc. The author has made every effort to ensure accuracy of information provided; however, neither Kitco Metals Inc. nor the author can guarantee such accuracy. This article is strictly for informational purposes only. It is not a solicitation to make any exchange in commodities, securities or other financial instruments. Kitco Metals Inc. and the author of this article do not accept culpability for losses and/ or damages arising from the use of this publication.