Naphtha margin up, cracker shutdowns in focus

About this update from Lotte Chemical Corporation

Asia's naphtha refining profit margin rose on Monday after some cracker shutdowns in Japan and South Korea.The margin rose to $72.48 per metric tons over Brent crude and the backwardation between second-half September and second-half October was steady at $1.75 a ton.In Japan, Mitsui Chemicals shut its Ichihara plant from June to August for maintenance and will carry out maintenance at its Osaka plant this month for about 30 days after Ichihara's work ends, a spokesperson said.In South Korea, YNCC shut No. 3 cracker last week due to poor market conditions and is facing the risk of default, while its parent companies Hanwha Solutions and DL Chemical will be deciding on new cash flows by the end of the week, industry sources said.In Indonesia, Lotte Chemical's LINE plant resumed operations and achieved on-spec production over the weekend after it was shut last week, another industry source said.NEWS- Saudi Arabia's crude oil exports to China are set to fall in September, slipping from a more than two-year high in August after the world's largest exporter raised prices, several trade sources.- The crude oil market's rather sanguine reaction to the U.S. threats to India over its continued purchases of Russian oil is effectively a bet that very little will actually happen.SINGAPORE CASH DEALS One naphtha trade.PRICES CASHASIA CLOSEChangePrev CloseRICOSN Naphtha CFR Japan M1 ($/mt)568.75-3.00571.75(NAF-1H-TYO)OSN Naphtha CFR Japan M2 ($/mt)567.00-3.00570.00(NAF-2H-TYO)OSN Naphtha Diff ($/mt)1.750.001.75(NAF-TYO-DIF)Naphtha Netback FOB Sing ($/bbl)61.19-0.3361.53(NAF-SIN)Naphtha-Brent Crack ($/mt)72.48-1.8074.28(NAF-SIN-CRK)Gasoline 97 ($/bbl)78.64-0.1678.80(GL97-SIN)Gasoline 95 ($/bbl)78.14-0.1678.30(GL95-SIN)Gasoline 92 ($/bbl)76.45-0.1676.61(GL92-SIN)Gasoline crack ($/bbl)10.280.0010.28(GL92-SIN-CRK)For a list of derivatives prices, including margins, please double click the RICs below.Brent M1(BRENTSGMc1)Naphtha CFR Japan M1(NACFRJPSWMc1)Naphtha CFR Japan M1/M2(NACFRJPSDMc1)Naphtha CFR Japan M2(NACFRJPSWMc2)Naphtha Japan-Sing Netback M1(NAPTC4SPDMc1)Naphtha Japan-Sing Netback M2(NAPTC4SPDMc2)Naphtha FOB Sing M1(NAFOBSGSWMc1)Naphtha FOB Sing M1/M2(NAFOBSGSDMc1)Naphtha FOB Sing M2(NAFOBSGSWMc2)Naphtha Cracks M1(NACFRJPCKMc1)East-West Naphtha M1(NAPJPEWMc1)East-West Naphtha M2(NAPJPEWMc2)NWE Naphtha M1(NAPCNWEAMc1)NWE Naphtha M1/M2(NAPCNWEASMc1)NWE Naphtha M2(N...

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