Asia naphtha hits record high of $942/tonne

17 April 2008 03:56  [Source: ICIS news]

SINGAPORE (ICIS news)--Asian naphtha hit another record high with the second half of June contract trading at a new high of $942/tonne, on strong gains in the crude markets, according to ICIS pricing data on Thursday.

The contract was traded late Wednesday on a CFR (cost and freight) Japan basis as Shell sold to Trafigura and Sempra to BP. Glencore also sold the same contract at $940/tonne to Trafigura. Crude prices surpassed the $110/barrel mark again this week.

However, the naphtha market remained weak due to lacklustre demand from northeast Asian end-users as most buyers had covered their May nominations and were waiting for prices to soften before seeking June cargoes.

The gains in the naphtha markets also remained weak versus the gains in the crude oil markets as naphtha rose by 2% this week against the 2.71% gain in the Brent crude markets.

The inter-month backwardation in the Asian naphtha market continued to crunch on weak demand, industry sources said.

The inter-month spreads between second half of May/second half of June was seen at $3/tonne on Thursday, against $5/tonne last week. “Backwardation continues crunching on the current weakness and is now seen at $1.50/tonne,” a source added.

By: Desmond Chia
+65 6780 4359

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