Naphtha trades were mostly muted following a string of purchases last week, mostly for cargoes scheduled for second-half February delivery.
Japan's Fuji Oil was one of those buyers that had bought naphtha for second-half February delivery at a premium around the mid single-digit a tonne level to Japan quotes on a cost-and-freight (C&F) basis, traders said.
This, however, could not be directly confirmed as buyers do not typically comment on their deals or operations.
Tenders: The Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) has offered two naphtha cargoes at 35,000 tonnes each for Feb. 5-7 loading and March 14-16 loading from Suez respectively.
It has offered two more cargoes for optional loading for Feb. 25-27 and March 26-28 from the same port through a tender closing on Jan. 17. Bids will stay valid until Jan. 24.
EGPC has a sale tender for 35,000 tonnes of the fuel for end-January loading from Suez which closed more than a week ago, but the results were not clear.