Asia’s naphtha refining profit margin extended gains on Friday as European inventories declined, although demand from petrochemical units remained poor.
The crack NAF-SIN-CRK rose to $66.68 a tonne, compared with $62.60 a tonne a day earlier.
“The recent strength in Asian naphtha cracks is contradictory to fundamentals, especially with petrochemical margins in Asia sinking deeper into negative territory and regional crackers extending run cuts,” energy consultancy FGE said in a note.
The growing re-export trade of Russian naphtha through commercial tanks is also not reflected in prices, the consultancy added.
South Korea has started importing naphtha from Tunisia, which in turn has seen a jump in supplies from Russia, highlighting the unusual trading routes that are emerging following Western sanctions against Moscow over its war in Ukraine.
INVENTORIES /
Gasoline stocks held in independent storage in the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA) refining and storage area slipped to 1.248 million tonnes in the week to Nov. 24, from 1.269 million tonnes in the prior week.
Naphtha inventories fell by 10% to 381,000 tonnes in the week to Thursday.
