Asia's naphtha crack recovered from the 1-1/2-week low hit on December 30 to touch a two-session high of $74.08 a tonne on Tuesday as a steady stream of demand from North Asia helped soaked up some of the excess supply. South Korea's Hanwha Total and Chinese trader Unipec were in the market for naphtha scheduled for second-half February and first-half February delivery respectively.

Unipec had bought a cargo last week for second-half January delivery. Hanwha Total was previously seen around the middle of December buying naphtha for second-half January arrival at Daesan. India's Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL) has offered 35,000 tonnes of naphtha for January 26-28 loading from New Mangalore in a tender closing on January 6.

It has most recently sold a cargo for February 5-7 loading to Vitol at a premium of $3 to $4 a tonne to Middle East quotes on a free-on-board (FOB) basis. MRPL has an outstanding purchase tender import 25,000 tonnes of reformate (a gasoline blending component) for February 5-15 arrival.

Copyright Reuters, 2017