Gasoline: Market lacks strength on high freights

The differential for MR-size cargos of 92RON gasoline on an FOB Northeast Asia basis was unchanged from Feb 9. Market still lacked upward momentum as freight rates stayed high. Meanwhile, refiners in South Korea were talking on cargoes loading in March. On Thursday, GS Caltex conducted a sell tender. Other refiners in the country also moved on sales for cargoes loading in the month. In China, PetroChina sold 500,000bbl of 92RON gasoline loading in early March to be loaded from Dalian Petrochemical at a premium of over $4.00/bbl to Singapore quotations on a CFR basis.

Naphtha: Prices for 2h Mar cargoes weaken as tight fundamentals retreat

Open-spec naphtha prices on a CFR Japan basis were at a premium of $16.00-17.00/mt to Japan quotations to be assessed 30 days before delivery. Prices for prompt cargoes softened as tight supply/demand fundamentals retreated.

One Japanese petrochemical company bought 25,000mt of open-spec naphtha for delivery in the second half of March at a premium in the low teen on a CFR Japan basis through a tender that was closed on Wednesday. It was informed that other offers were higher than the deal level. It was likely that some sellers were willing to sell cargoes actively, so that the deal level could be pushed down comparing to the paper swaps values. Meanwhile, as the fiscal year of most Japanese companies is over in March, buying interest for cargoes for delivery in the second half of March was decreasing from the country.

This week, Kuwait Petroleum Corp (KPC) negotiated annual term contracts from April next week with customers. One buyer said that the offer level for full range naphtha was thought to be at a premium below $30.00/mt to the quotations on an FOB basis.

Middle distillates: EU trader buys cargoes to cover its short position

The differentials for MR-size cargoes of jet fuel on an FOB Northeast Asai basis went up on week on firm demand for cargoes for Europe. Inquiries for cargoes for Europe continued and cargoes from the Middle East and India were hardly headed to Singapore. Under the circumstances, demand for cargoes loading in Northeast Asia was relatively strengthening. In addition, demand for cargoes for Australia also surfaced. In the meantime, a European trader bought at least two MR-size cargoes and it was likely to ship the volumes in one LR-size cargo. Market sources perceived that the purchase was for short-covering.

The differentials for MR-size cargoes of 0.001% sulfur gasoil on an FOB Northeast Asai basis gained. The FOB basis price went up with a lull in freight rates.

GS Caltex sold an MR-size cargo loading on Mar 13-15 at a discount of $1.20/bbl to the Singapore quotations on an FOB basis. The buyer was an Australian trader.

Fuel oil: Kuwait's KPC sells 3rd 0.5%S cargo for Feb

The differential for MR-size cargoes of 0.5% sulfur fuel oil on an FOB South Korea basis stuck in the same level as Feb 9. Despite the absence of new negotiations on FOB South Korea cargoes, the underlying market note softened as the Asian market, in which Singapore is the core trading venue, saw a continuously ample supply. According to a market source, Kuwait Petroleum Corp (KPC) dealt 130,000mt of 0.5% sulfur fuel oil loading on Feb 27- 28 on a FOB basis at a discount of $9.00/mt to the Singapore quotations. Abu Dhabi National Oil Co (ADNOC), or the United Arab Emirates (UAE)'s oil giant purchased the 0.5%S fuel cargo, which is scheduled to be shipped from its 615,000 barrel-per-day Al-Zour refinery as the third cargo for loading in February. "KPC seemed to operate the refinery very smoothly," said a market player.