Asia to receive 2m tonnes deep-sea naphtha supply in Jan

(adds details)

SINGAPORE (ICIS)–Asia is set to receive some 2.0m tonnes of deep-sea naphtha supply from the West in January, traders said on Friday.

The volumes rose from 1.8m tonnes of arbitrage inflows bound for Asia in December from northwest Europe, the Mediterranean, Russia and the US, they added.

The increase in supply came at a time of declining crude-led naphtha prices.

US crude futures fell to below $60/bbl amid oversupply and bearish demand.

Crude oil prices have since declined since OPEC decided against cutting its output quota amid the highest US production in more than three decades.

First-half February on-spec naphtha contract fell by $8-9/tonne from Thursday to  $482.50-485.50/tonne CFR Japan on Friday in response to overnight crude losses.

Separately, the spread between the first half of February and the first half of March naphtha contracts deepened the contango to $4.75/tonne on 18 December from $4.00/tonne in contango on 17 December, ICIS data.