Asia’s naphtha margins eased further to nearly a five-month low, though the pace of spot buying interest quickened as some buyers had yet to confirm their February requirements.

At least two major northeast Asia-based importers sought for first-half February deliveries via tenders that close today and tomorrow.

Naphtha remains a more competitive feedstock compared with LPG, one buyer said.

Cracks (NAF-SIN-CRK) extended losses to around $65 per metric ton, amid the firmer crude performance.

However, prevailing concerns on squeezed downstream petrochemical margins remained.

Gasoline markets remained active on the trading window, with deals still ongoing, though structure

The octane-92 refining margins (GL92-SIN-CRK) inched down further to $12.4 a barrel, remaining at slightly more than 2 month lows.

Earlier rare export arbitrage windows from the west to east were nearly closed after the weakness in Asian prices since late last week, with prices in the West already catching up, some trade sources said.

Meanwhile, traders been eyeing the release of China’s export quotas soon, which could end up adding some supplies to the market, though December export volumes were estimated to be minimal.

NEWS

– South Korea’s petrochemical firms are on track to cut up to 3.7 million metric tons of output under a voluntary plan to overhaul the oversupplied sector and improve flagging profit margins, the industry minister said on Monday.
– The U.S. Coast Guard is pursuing an oil tanker in international waters near Venezuela, officials told Reuters on Sunday, in what would be the second such operation this weekend and the third in less than two weeks if successful.
– Oil prices rose on Monday after officials said the U.S. had intercepted an oil tanker in international waters off the coast of Venezuela, raising fresh supply uncertainty.
– A Ukrainian drone attack damaged two vessels, two piers and sparked a fire in a village on the Black Sea coast in Russia’s Krasnodar region, regional authorities said on Monday.

SINGAPORE CASH DEALS

– Two gasoline deals, no naphtha deals
Source: Reuters