IOC offers 30,000 tonnes of naphtha for April

SINGAPORE, Mar 16 (Reuters) Indian Oil Corp. (IOC) has offered 30,000 tonnes of naphtha for mid-April loading via tender, traders said on Friday, a day after it sold 180,000 tonnes of naphtha for April-September loading.

IOC will close the tender on March 20 with validity until March 21. Loading is for April 11-14 from the port of Kandla.

The refiner sold 180,000 tonnes of naphtha for April-September loading to Vitol at around - a tonne above the price formula between Argus and Platts, on a free-on-board (FOB) basis. [ID:nSP110689] The premium was higher than its previous sales as the Asian naphtha market had jumped since the start of this year, due to supply shortages sparked by smaller 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 HS1459