Gasoline: Pemex procures cargoes in Asia

The differentials for MR-size cargos of 92RON gasoline on an FOB Northeast Asia basis gained on week. Buying interest emerged from Mexico and Indonesia. Mexico state-owned Pemex procured more than three MR-size cargoes in Singapore and one MR-size cargo in China.

On the supply side, sales volumes from China and South Korea were currently limited in the spot market. Chinese oil firms were expected to be inactive for sales while the new batch of export quotas of oil products was not released.

In the spot market, one MR-size cargo of 92RON oxy gasoline loading in Dalian, China on Sep 13-15 was traded at a premium of 35cts/bbl to Singapore 92RON gasoline quotations on an FOB basis.

Naphtha: Korea petchem company to raise operation rates

The first half October open-spec naphtha prices on a CFR Japan basis tended to rise on week. Supply was expected to be tighter due to turnaround at some refineries. In the Middle East, the 460,000bbl-per-day SATORP refinery in Saudi Arabia was reportedly scheduled to have turnaround during September and October. A market participant pointed out that supply mainly for India was prospected to decrease by the maintenance activities. On the demand side, demand was likely to be gradually shifting from LPG to naphtha.

Korea Petrochemical Ind Co Ltd (KPIC) bought 25,000mt of open-spec for delivery in the first half of October at a premium of $4.50/mt to the first half of September quotations on a CFR basis.

YNCC in South Korea decided to raise the operation rates of the No.1 and the No.2 naphtha crackers in the first half of September. Because of this, the average operation rates of crackers in September would increase to 77% from its initial plan of 72%.

Middle distillates: Hyundai sells end Sep-loading 10ppm GO

The differentials for MR-size cargoes of jet fuel on an FOB Northeast Asia basis went down with increasing supply. While the Chinese government had yet to release third batch of exports quotas, Chinese oil companies moved on selling prompt cargoes.

The differentials for MR-size cargoes of 0.001% sulfur gasoil on an FOB Northeast Asia basis slightly moved down on ample supply. Although it was already at the end of the month, refiners in South Korea continued to sell cargoes loading in September, and market sources felt that supply from the country was plentiful. It was perceived that each refiner in South Korea seemed to be focusing on exports of extra volumes in the domestic market due to sluggish demand at home.

Exports from India were also abundant as domestic demand was falling due to the monsoon season. Meanwhile, with gasoil margins in Asia remaining strong, oil companies in the country were showing active stance for exports.

In South Korea, Hyundai Oilbank sold 300,000bbl of 0.001% sulfur gasoil loading on Sep 28-30 via a tender closed on Tuesday. The price was reportedly at a discount of 73cts/bbl to the quotations on an FOB basis. The company additionally issued a tender to sell 450,000bbl loading on Sep 24-26.

Fuel oil: 0.5%S market goes up on FOB Korea

The differential for MR-size cargoes of 0.5% sulfur fuel oil on an FOB South Korea basis went up. A sense of slack supply/demand fundamentals in Asia was expected to be eased as the number of arbitrage cargoes for delivery in Singapore in late September was likely to be declining. The arbitrage window from the West to Asia was closed, and traders were reluctant to procure cargoes.

Pengerang Refining Company Sdn Bhd and Pengerang Petrochemical Company Sdn Bhd sold 80,000mt of 0.5-0.6% low-sulfur straight run fuel oil loading on Aug 27-28 via a tender closed on Tuesday. It was reported that the buyer was Aramco,

Meanwhile, the 650,000b/d Dangote refinery in Nigeria continued to sell cargoes. It was conducting a tender to sell 130,000mt of low-sulfur fuel oil loading on Sep 7-9. Operations of its RFCCs stayed low, and it was moving to sell extra volumes of fuel oil.