HPCL sells July-Dec naphtha

SINGAPORE, Mar 16 (Reuters) Hindustan Petroleum Corp. Ltd. (HPCL) has sold one naphtha cargo a month for the July-December period from the port of Vizag to Japanese trading house Itochu, trading sources said on Friday.

Though the cargoes were sold at lower premiums than HPCL's last sale for April-June term cargoes, traders said that the still high premiums showed that the petrochemical feedstock market could be bullish throughout the year.

HPCL sold the six cargoes -- each of 25,000 to 30,000 tonnes -- at slightly more than a tonne above Middle East spot quotes, on a free-on-board (FOB) basis, they said.

HPCL in February sold three 25,000 to 30,000-tonne cargoes of naphtha for loading in April, May and June, also to Itochu.

The deal was made at that time at a premium of around a tonne to the same Middle East quotes, FOB, traders said.

The Asian naphtha market has jumped since the start of this year, due to supply shortages sparked by smaller Indian naphtha exports and on healthy petrochemical demand.

Benchmark naphtha's premium against Brent crude, which shows the strength of the petrochemical feedstock market, hit a record high of more than 0 earlier this week.

REUTERS CS HS1452