India naphtha being offered in Europe - traders

02 November 2007 14:05  [Source: ICIS news]

LONDON (ICIS news)--Indian naphtha producers are marketing material into northwest Europe (NWE) at attractive prices, traders said on Friday.

Traders said Indian producers had been offering cargoes to NWE this week, although no fixtures had been made.

According to a London based trader, the prices quoted were very good. However, he turned down the offers due to the risk of a crash in the European market.

He noted that by the time a cargo would have arrived, crude prices could have fallen, leading to similar movements in the crude-sensitive naphtha market.

Holding onto a large Indian naphtha cargo at around $800/tonne in Europe could therefore be a costly mistake, he said.

Most naphtha traders have already opened talk about end-of-year de-stocking and carrying a large naphtha cargo into 2008 was not seen as an ideal position.

Demand for large cargoes had been weak in general during the past fortnight due to the capital required to purchase a cargo, European traders said, leaving most end-users to seek small cargoes and barges at a larger premium to avoid tying up too much capital.

By: Kawai Wong
+44 20 8652 3214

< previous article(VIDEO – ICIS news Americas Lunchtime Bulletin 29 Oct 2009)

For the latest chemical news, data and analysis that directly impacts your business sign up for a free trial to ICIS news - the breaking online news service for the global chemical industry.

Get the facts and analysis behind the headlines from our market leading weekly magazine: sign up to a free trial to ICIS Chemical Business.

Printer Friendly