Asia’s naphtha refining profit margin was up slightly on Friday after European inventories dropped from record levels and expectation of tight supplies supported market structure.
The crack stood at $97.73 per metric ton over Brent crude and the backwardation between prompt and front months was steady at $6.25 a ton.
Singapore trade window saw several bids against few offers, with energy trader Total snapping up 25,000 tons of second-half November naphtha at $598 per ton, market participants said.
In the gasoline market, the crack traded firm near $12 per barrel over Brent crude.
INVENTORIES
Gasoline stocks at the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA) hub fell to 1.16 million metric tons in the week to September 18 from 1.178 million tons in the prior week, data from Insights Global showed.
Naphtha stocks, which stood at record levels last week, saw an 18% dip to 547,000 tons, the data showed.
NEWS
– Indian Oil Corp, the country’s top refiner, has bought 3 million barrels of sweet crude for November delivery via a tender, trade sources said.
– Indonesia will tighten controls over ethanol imports, the country’s agriculture minister Amran Sulaiman said on Friday, with the aim of supporting farmers hit by a fall in the price of molasses, a major feedstock.
Source: Reuters