CFR Far East

The CFR Far East market declined early last week due to falling crude prices and a retreat in buying interest. Since several pure propane cargoes were traded on Nov 14-18, active buyers gradually decreased. After that, the CFR Far East market rebounded due to increasing crude prices on Nov 21. Nevertheless, while one Chinese importer tried to resell a pure propane cargo, buyers were not seen in the market and supply/demand remained slack. Supply/demand for cargoes containing butane was also loose. One Chinese importer moved to sell an even-split cargo but buyers showed no interest in purchasing. The Rim Asia Index declined to $471.50/mt for propane and $486.50/mt for butane as of Nov 21, down $1.00/mt from Nov 15. 　　

FOB Middle East

With a surge in crude prices late last week, the December CP forecast was revised up to about $425/mt for propane and about $440/mt for butane. In the spot market, both buyers and sellers were inactive in enter talks. Thus, talks were slow to progress. Saudi Aramco was seen to have spot availability for first-half December loading but the producer apparently showed selling interest at a premium level to the December CP. On the other hand, as demand for December was not strong from India and China, only bids for even-split cargoes were heard at a discount of $5-10/mt to the December CP.

Asia Pressurized Market

One refrigerated cargo importer in South China was interested to sell spot cargoes for December loading at a premium in the low $60's/mt to the December CP. Meanwhile, with a sharp upward revision of the expected December CP late last week, potential spot demand was expected for end-November loading. For CFR Vietnam, some importers considered spot purchase for December delivery as term contracts starting January 2020 for 12 months were expected to be higher than the current level.　

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