NEW DELHI, March 5 (Reuters) - Asia's naphtha margin was down on Wednesday on weak demand although the downside was limited due to a large draw in Middle East inventories.
The crack traded at $109.93 per metric ton over Brent crude, down $1.63 from the previous session in a steeply backwardated market. The price of second-half April naphtha was $14.50 higher than the second-half May naphtha.
Looking ahead, traders and analyst said naphtha cracks stand to benefit from gasoline-blending demand but volatility in crude oil benchmarks will decide the direction for the markets in the near term.
Light distillate stocks at the Fujairah trading hub declined by about 2 million barrels to 6.302 million barrels in the week to March 3, data from S&P Global Commodity Insights showed.
NEWS
- Oil prices declined for a third session on Wednesday, as investors worried about OPEC+ plans to proceed with output increases in April, and U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs on Canada, China and Mexico escalated trade tensions. O/R
- The Trump administration said it was ending a license that the U.S. had granted to oil producer Chevron since 2022 to operate in Venezuela and export its oil, after Washington accused President Nicolas Maduro of not making progress on electoral reforms and migrant returns.
PRICES
CASH | ASIA CLOSE | Change | Prev Close | RIC |
OSN Naphtha CFR Japan M1 ($/mt) | 641.00 | -0.50 | 641.50 | NAF-1H-TYO |
OSN Naphtha CFR Japan M2 ($/mt) | 626.50 | -2.00 | 628.50 | NAF-2H-TYO |
OSN Naphtha Diff ($/mt) | 14.50 | 1.50 | 13.00 | NAF-TYO-DIF |
Naphtha Netback FOB Sing ($/bbl) | 69.22 | -0.06 | 69.28 | NAF-SIN |
Naphtha-Brent Crack ($/mt) | 109.93 | -1.63 | 111.55 | NAF-SIN-CRK |
Gasoline 97 ($/bbl) | 81.30 | -0.85 | 82.15 | GL97-SIN |
Gasoline 95 ($/bbl) | 81.10 | -0.85 | 81.95 | GL95-SIN |
Gasoline 92 ($/bbl) | 79.15 | -0.85 | 80.00 | GL92-SIN |
Gasoline crack ($/bbl) | 8.34 | -1.00 | 9.34 | GL92-SIN-CRK |
For a list of derivatives prices, including margins, please double click the RICs below. | ||||
Brent M1 | BRENTSGMc1 | |||
Naphtha CFR Japan M1 | NACFRJPSWMc1 | |||
Naphtha CFR Japan M1/M2 | NACFRJPSDMc1 | |||
Naphtha CFR Japan M2 | NACFRJPSWMc2 | |||
Naphtha Japan-Sing Netback M1 | NAPTC4SPDMc1 | |||
Naphtha Japan-Sing Netback M2 | NAPTC4SPDMc2 | |||
Naphtha FOB Sing M1 | NAFOBSGSWMc1 | |||
Naphtha FOB Sing M1/M2 | NAFOBSGSDMc1 | |||
Naphtha FOB Sing M2 | NAFOBSGSWMc2 | |||
Naphtha Cracks M1 | NACFRJPCKMc1 | |||
East-West Naphtha M1 | NAPJPEWMc1 | |||
East-West Naphtha M2 | NAPJPEWMc2 | |||
NWE Naphtha M1 | NAPCNWEAMc1 | |||
NWE Naphtha M1/M2 | NAPCNWEASMc1 | |||
NWE Naphtha M2 | NAPCNWEAMc2 | |||
Crack NWE Naphtha-Brent M1 | NAPCNWEACMc1 | |||
Crack NWE Naphtha-Brent M2 | NAPCNWEACMc2 | |||
*Sing refers to Singapore | ||||
(Reporting by Mohi Narayan; Editing by Tasim Zahid)
((Mohi.Narayan@thomsonreuters.com; https://twitter.com/_mohi_;))
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