Asia’s naphtha prices and refining profit margin were stable on Tuesday amid thin trade activity at the deals window, although the upside remained limited due to high supplies.

The crack was steady at about $34 per metric ton over Brent crude, while first-half October naphtha price traded at $668 per ton. At the Singapore trade window, there were no deals for both naphtha and gasoline.

Naphtha supplies to Asia are on course to hit a four-month high of 6.1-6.2 million mt, up by about 7% compared with July’s revised total of 5.7-5.8 million mt, assessments by Refinitiv Oil Research showed.

Western arbitrage flows held broadly steady month-on-month at around 1.3 million mt. Russian supplies fell sharply to the lowest level since April at about 550,000 mt this month, the data showed.

NEWS

– Japan’s government is considering extending fuel subsidies until year-end to keep gasoline prices below 180 yen a litre, while working on a supplementary budget to finance broader measures, three people with direct knowledge of the matter said.

– India will provide additional subsidy of 200 rupees per LPG cylinder to customers under a government scheme to support the poor, local media reported.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Mohi Narayan; Editing by Shweta Agarwal)