Asian naphtha markets were expecting more spot activity a week later as some buyers are due to start their first-half November purchases, with supply concerns propping up margins to nearly a six-month high.
Refining margins (NAF-SIN-CRK) for the petrochemical feedstock gained to almost $105 per metric ton.
Some concerns on tight fundamentals remaining firm until November were prevalent, given refinery maintenance and ongoing curtailment in Russian supplies.
However, some regional cracker maintenance could cap the market’s overall trading sentiment.
The timespread between H2 October and H2 November widened slightly to $6 per ton.
Meanwhile, gasoline front-month markets stayed robust, as traders were still factoring in supply disruptions regionally.
Demand is also firm, providing further support.
Gasoline refining margins (GL92-SIN-CRK) closed the trading session at a one-week high of $12.5 a barrel, erasing previous trading sessions’ losses.
However, cautiousness remained regarding how long this situation can last given that supply disruptions could ease soon.
Blendstocks supply remains ample as well, two China-based trade sources said, exceeding demand.
Traders were also waiting for China’s third batch of export quota to surface, which could in turn boost regional gasoline supplies.
NEWS
– Malaysia’s Pengerang Refining Company (Prefchem) has offered more low-sulphur straight run (LSSR) fuel oil for sale in a tender that closed on Friday, market sources said, as a refining unit that processes the fuel remained shut.
– Margarita Perez, the head of the commercial arm of Mexican state energy company Pemex, has left her position and will be replaced by finance ministry official Adan Garcia, a spokesperson for the company said on Thursday.
– Canada’s government is in discussions with energy companies and Alberta about eliminating a federal cap on emissions from the country’s oil and gas sector if the industry and province reduce their carbon footprint in other ways, three sources with knowledge of the talks said.
INVENTORIES
– Gasoline stocks held independently in the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA) refining and storage hub rose by 2.5%, data from Dutch consultancy Insights Global showed on Thursday.
SINGAPORE CASH DEALS
– One gasoline deal, one naphtha deal
Source: Reuters