Singapore — The Asian light ends market recorded slight gains in mid-morning trade Sept. 14, tracking a steady crude complex, amid balanced to firm gasoline and naphtha fundamentals.
Not registered?
Receive daily email alerts, subscriber notes & personalize your experience.
Register NowNovember ICE Brent crude futures was largely steady at $40/b at 0300 GMT Sept. 14, compared with $39.99/b at 0830 GMT Sept. 11.
GASOLINE
** The October FOB Singapore 92 RON gasoline swap opened Sept. 14 at around $43.70/b, inching 1.25% higher from the previous trading session as international crude prices steadied.
** Asian gasoline market participants are on the lookout for fresh drivers this week, with regional supply-demand fundamentals becoming increasingly balanced, as steady demand and a recent slate of unexpected cuts to refinery output helped buoy sentiment.
** Focus will likely turn toward Indonesia, which has reportedly re-imposed a city-wide lockdown in the capital city of Jakarta from Sept 14. Indonesia has continued to face rising cases of coronavirus domestically, with Jakarta struggling to contain the virus and hospitals crowding out, according to local media reports.
** With the fresh slate of lockdowns, businesses and workplaces will suspend operations, with only essential services such as food, energy and communication industries, among others, being able to operate with limited capacity. This is likely to curb import demand from Asia's top gasoline importer. Indonesian gasoline demand had tumbled 38.3% on the month in May when Jakarta enforced strict movement restrictions, according to Statistics Indonesia data.
NAPHTHA
** The physical CFR Japan naphtha benchmark opened Sept. 14 at $380.25/mt, up $2.25/mt from the Asian close on Sept. 11, due to higher Northwest Europe naphtha crack.
** A firmer sentiment was reflected in the derivatives market in mid-morning trading, with front month October/November Japan naphtha swaps at plus 75 cents/mt, higher than the close on Sept. 11 when it was 50 cents/mt.
** The trading cycle was slated to move into H1 November delivery cargoes mid-week. Ship fixtures showed up to 316,000 mt of US Gulf naphtha is slated to load in H2 September for voyages to the Far East, and arrive in Asia H1 November. Sentiment for H1 November cargoes is likely to weaken as a result of US cargo inflows, sources said.
** Asian paraxylene-naphtha spread rallied to an 11-week high on PX market strength at $167.17/mt on Sept. 11. However the spread remained under the typical breakeven of around $280-$300/mt, Platts data showed.
LPG
** Front month October CP swaps was notionally indicated Sept. 14 at $352/mt, versus $348/mt valued Sept. 11. Butane CP swap indicated $6/mt above propane.
**October/November CP propane swap contango was indicated at $7/mt, versus $8/mt the previous session.
** After Qatar Petroleum and ADNOC announced acceptances of October term cargo nominations without cuts during the week ended Sept. 12, with the latter advancing loading dates for second month, eyes are on Saudi Aramco's announcement later in the week, amid expectations of no cuts or delays.
** Demand fundamentals are mixed. While India is expected to continue spot imports for Q4, incremental Chinese demand is expected to be delayed by deferred PDH plant startups until end-October/November. Market hopes for resurgent Chinese cargo demand for delivery in the next two months.
**Butane is expected to gain momentum over propane, as the market fretted over tight US field-grade butane and refinery supply amid firm Asian and European demand.
**Though propane swap discount to naphtha is around low $20s/mt, sources said South Korea's SK Global Chemical will use propane for steam cracker in Ulsan till end-September as the ethylene-naphtha spread stays wide. The plant switched 10% feedstock to propane some months ago on strong ethylene margins.
"light" - Google News
September 14, 2020 at 11:46AM
https://ift.tt/3bTGXSF
Asia light ends - Key market indicators this week - S&P Global
"light" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2Wm8QLw
https://ift.tt/2Stbv5k
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Asia light ends - Key market indicators this week - S&P Global"
Post a Comment