S Korea’s S-Oil sells light naphtha at a record $32/tonne premium

26 April 2012 08:51  [Source: ICIS news]

SINGAPORE (ICIS)--South Korea’s S-Oil has sold 33,000 tonnes of light naphtha, scheduled for loading from 25-31 May from Onsan, to Amsterdam-based Trafigura, a source familiar with the transaction said on Thursday.

The cargo was sold at plus $32/tonne (€24/tonne) CFR (cost and freight) Japan quotes, the source said.

S-Oil last sold a 15,000 tonne naphtha parcel to Japan’s Idemitsu at plus $11.00-13.00/tonne CFR Japan quotes, several traders said. The parcel sold to Idemitsu was scheduled for loading from 24-30 April.

“This is the highest premium a refiner had fetched on CFR Japan basis for this year, and it is possibly the highest premium that S-Oil has achieved to-date. The key reason for the high premium paid is due to a shortage of spot light naphtha cargoes,” said a trader.

Light naphtha had been in short supply since mid-April, when GS Caltex was forced to shut its naphtha splitter due to an undisclosed technical problem, several traders said.

GS Caltex shut its 90,000 bbl/day naphtha splitter in Yeosu in the week ending 20 April, the traders said.

The firm’s unit splits full-range naphtha into light and heavy grades.

Heavy naphtha is supplied to the company’s own aromatics plants in Yeosu, while light naphtha is supplied to other cracker operators, such as Honam Petrochemical, LG Chem, and Yeochun NCC in the region.

($1 = €0.76)

By: Quintella Koh
+65 6780 4372

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