SINGAPORE: Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL) has sold up to 30,000 tonnes of naphtha for loading over April 3-5 from the eastern port of Vizag to Japan’s Itochu at steep premiums of around $40 a tonne to Middle East quotes, traders said on Friday.
This was the highest premium HPCL had got for a naphtha cargo sold out of Vizag since the fourth quarter of 2012, Reuters data showed.
HPCL also exports naphtha from Mumbai.
A persisting supply crunch, caused by delays of shipment from Europe to Asia, coupled with firm demand on a lack of cheap alternative liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) feedstock, has driven prices higher, traders said.
The unrest in Yemen has also added to the bullish sentiment as volatile crude prices would prompt traders to hold back some of their naphtha cargoes in view of uncertainties. Aden exports small volumes of naphtha.
