A long wait before prices hit bottom

摘要

Naphtha:The MoPJ fell by US25-26/tonne to US482-484/tonne cfr Japan from a week earlier,on softening crude values.January Light Sweet Crude futures were assessed at US56.16/bbl,down US1.59/ bbl from the previous weeks level.The main reason for the decline in crude prices was low demand levels for heating oil as a result of a warmer-than-usual winter in North America.However,naphtha supply was fairly balanced,traders said,as no major cracker turnarounds were expected until next year.All the crackers that had been on maintenance shutdowns in early Q4 had restarted,levelling off the naphtha oversupply seen in Q3.