- Front- month Japan naphtha swap time spread widens- Asia
Ethylene Naphtha Spread narrows to $7.13-8.20/mt for week



Early April 3 saw Asian naphtha markets
slightly firmer as trading activity began for the second-half of May delivery
cycle. This is against a backdrop where there was low petrochemicals demand and
anemic steam cracker turnaround season. The fundamentals were largely unchanged, with slow
downstream petrochemicals consumption. Market
participants continue to monitor disruptions in supply resulting from strikes
at French refineries. "Fundamentally
there aren't many changes. The upside is
still limited even if the European market improves. A trader stated that the Asian market's impact would not be
significant because the main driver is still downstream demand, which is
weak." In midafternoon trading April
3, the backwardation structure in derivatives markets widened. According to S&P Global Commodity Insights data, brokers
pegged...