Asia Naphtha/Gasoline-Naphtha refining margin falls below $50/t

Asia’s naphtha markets extended declines on Wednesday on worries of declining demand due to more plant capacity going offline in the region for the ongoing maintenance season.

The crack fell to $47.38 per metric ton over Brent crude, compared with $50.98 per ton a day earlier.

Indonesian chemical company Chandra Asri Group TPIA.JK has shut down its petrochemical plant in Cilegon for about 55 days for scheduled maintenance, the company said in a statement on Wednesday.

The maintenance, which started on May 7, includes the integration of new facilities with existing ones to strengthen the “self-sufficiency of the domestic industry”, the company added.

Chandra Asri Group operates a naphtha cracker, a styrene monomer plant, a butadiene plant, Methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) and Butene-1 plants at the Cilegon complex.

At least one other cracker is rumoured to be undergoing maintenance since last week, market participants said.

NEWS

– The International Energy Agency (IEA) trimmed its forecast for 2024 oil demand growth on Wednesday, further expanding the chasm between it and oil producer group OPEC regarding the outlook for global oil demand this year.

– Jincheng Petrochemical，a newly restructured independent refiner controlled by the Liaoning provincial government in northeastern China, is seeking crude oil import quotas for its three plants, four sources with knowledge of the matter said.

SINGAPORE CASH DEALS

Two naphtha trades, no gasoline deals.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Mohi Narayan; Editing by Eileen Soreng)