SINGAPORE, Feb 21 (Reuters) - The Asian gasoline margin returned to a
four-year high on Thursday after three straight sessions of losses.
Firm demand from Indonesia drove the crack value back up to $15.58 a barrel,
the highest since around Feb. 14, 2009.
About 300,400 tonnes of gasoline, which were below the 90-octane grade, were
shipped to Indonesia from Singapore in the week to Feb. 20, versus less than
80,000 tonnes in the previous week, official data showed.
On the other hand, refineries across Taiwan, Singapore, South Korea and
Taiwan, are to enter a heavy maintenance season starting from March.
This will tighten gasoline supplies.
Two gasoline cash deals were seen in the Singapore market.
Total sold a 92-octane gasoline cargo for March 13-17 loading at $130.10 a
barrel to Trafigura, but it bought a 95-octane gasoline cargo for March 8-12
loading at $133.30 from Vitol.
NAPHTHA SPIRALS DOWN
The Asian naphtha price and its margin extended losses to hit a three-week
low of $1,001 a tonne and $142.10 a tonne respectively as alternative liquefied
petroleum gas (LPG) became more readily available.
LPG can replace 5 to 15 percent of naphtha in some of the Asian
petrochemical units and the switch will hurt naphtha sellers.
"LPG is the main driver behind the weaker naphtha sentiment," said a
Singapore-based trader.
Asia's top naphtha buyer Formosa Petrochemical was said to have snapped up
some LPG, and this will see it reducing its naphtha imports.
"I am pretty certain that most, if not all, will start buying LPG," said
another Singapore-based trader.
"On top of this, refiners are also squeezing out more naphtha. This will cap
the naphtha market strength."
The red-hot naphtha market, where premiums were touching record highs in
India, South Korea and China, were drawing sellers out.
For instance, South Korea's smallest refiner Hyundai Oilbank came out to
sell around 25,000 tonnes of naphtha for late March loading to Japan's Itochu, a
move traders said was rare as it does not usually export spot naphtha.
* NAPHTHA TENDERS: Chevron bought 35,000 tonnes of naphtha from India's Oil
and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) for March 3-4 loading from Hazira in a
rare move, which traders said could be supplied to South Korea.
- Chevron paid about $50 a tonne premium to Middle East quotes on a
free-on-board (FOB) basis.
* NAPHTHA CASH DEALS: Mabanaft sold a second-half April cargo to Shell at
$985 a tonne, making this the only cash deal for the day.
LIGHT DISTILLATES
CASH ($/T) ASIA CLOSE Change % Change Prev RIC
Close
OSN Naphtha CFR Japan M1 1001.00 -25.50 -2.48 1026.5
0
OSN Naphtha CFR Japan M2 973.00 -21.50 -2.16 994.50
OSN Naphtha Diff 28.00 -4.00 -12.50 32.00
Naphtha Netback FOB Sing 108.73 -2.86 -2.56 111.59
Naphtha Diff FOB Sing 4.58 -0.36 -7.29 4.94
Naphtha-Brent Crack 142.10 -3.75 -2.57 145.85
Gasoline 97 135.52 -1.58 -1.15 137.10
Gasoline 95 133.30 -1.75 -1.30 135.05
Gasoline 92 130.55 -1.45 -1.10 132.00
Gasoline crack 15.58 1.00 6.86 14.58
SWAPS ($/T) ASIA CLOSE Change % Change Prev RIC
(0830 GMT) Close
Brent M1 114.52 -2.89 -2.46 117.41
Naphtha CFR Japan M1 964.50 -21.00 -2.13 985.50
Naphtha CFR Japan M1/M2 15.25 0.50 3.39 14.75
Naphtha CFR Japan M2 949.25 -21.50 -2.21 970.75
Naphtha Japan-Sing 8.25 2.40 41.03 5.85
Netback M1
Naphtha Japan-Sing 13.25 0.10 0.76 13.15
Netback M2
Naphtha FOB Sing M1 106.25 -2.60 -2.39 108.85
Naphtha FOB Sing M1/M2 2.25 -0.20 -8.16 2.45
Naphtha FOB Sing M2 104.00 -2.40 -2.26 106.40
Naphtha Cracks M1 -9.05 0.50 -5.24 -9.55
East-West Naphtha M1 8.50 -1.00 -10.53 9.50
East-West Naphtha M2 12.00 -0.25 -2.04 12.25
NWE Naphtha M1 956.00 -20.00 -2.05 976.00
NWE Naphtha M1/M2 18.75 1.25 7.14 17.50
NWE Naphtha M2 937.25 -21.25 -2.22 958.50
Crack NWE Naphtha-Brent -10.38 0.53 -4.86 -10.91
M1
Crack NWE Naphtha-Brent -10.78 0.47 -4.18 -11.25
M2
*Sing refers to Singapore
(Reporting by Seng Li Peng; Editing by Alison Birrane)
