Naphtha Markets Summary
This past fortnight has seen a far weaker naphtha complex in both regions, yet, the East has performed slightly better in the past couple days.
The May NWE crack softened considerably in the first week, falling from -$8.35/bbl on open of Mar 26 to reach the -$11.65/bbl mark come Apr 02. Price action did then stabilise around the -$12/bbl level for the remainder of the fortnight.
Spreads in both regions have witnessed a continual decline across the two weeks. The front NWE and MOPJ spread mirrored one another as they both slipped from $10.25/mt on Mar 26 to $5.75/mt come close of Apr 08.
May naphtha E/W has seen a more rangebound, yet choppy, performance between $12-15/mt. Nonetheless, after opening at $12/mt on Apr 05, prices have seen upwards support rallying to $15.75/mt come close of Apr 08.
News
India’s naphtha consumption edged down for the third consecutive month, falling 0.64% m-o-m and 5.24% y-o-y to 1.191 million metric tonnes in March.
The Russian government has removed the extra Rb50,000/mt ($541.17/mt) export duty for some petrochemical products and feedstocks in an attempt to stimulate small and medium sized refineries.
Naphtha futures trade volumes moved up by 40% in 2023 and into 2024 on the back of commercial firms turning to the futures market to manage risk amid higher volatility in price action.
South Korea and Malaysia have resumed bilateral Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations for the first time since 2019 with players speculating that a successful outcome to these talks could boost crude and oil product trades.
Hengli Petrochem reported a net income of 6.90 billion yuan for the full year of 2023.
