<article><p class="lead">Kuwait's naphtha exports in March were the highest in any month since at least 2019, boosted by the start of the latest phase at the 615,000 b/d al-Zour refinery.</p><p>Preliminary data from Vortexa show exports in March at 802,000t (7.14mn bl), up from 520,000t in February and 419,000t in March 2022. </p><p>Operations began in early March at the second 205,000 b/d phase of the al-Zour refinery, bringing the plant's nameplate capacity to <a href="https://direct.argusmedia.com/newsandanalysis/article/2426792">410,000 b/d</a>. At full capacity, Al-Zour will produce 3mn t/yr of petrochemical-grade naphtha. </p><p>Singapore replaced Japan as the largest destination for Kuwait's naphtha in the month, at 193,000t. This also helped Kuwait emerge as the second-largest supplier of naphtha after Russia to the city-state. Japan was destination for around 25pc of exports at 181,000t, followed by Egypt, India and China. Exports to Japan were around 92,000t lower than in February as naphtha crackers in the region operated at lower rates. </p><p>Kuwait sent 65,000t of naphtha to India's Hazira port over 14-16 March period. Vortexa has no record of naphtha cargoes leaving Kuwait to India since December. A recent increase in naphtha import duty, to 2.5pc from 1pc to promote the use of domestic naphtha supply, may discourage future imports to India. </p><p>Overall naphtha exports from the Mideast Gulf region were 4.08mn t in March, up from 3.52mn t in February and from 3.94mn t in January. Kuwait's state-controlled refiner KPC, a typical buyer of gasoline, has started offering batches of spot gasoline following the integration of its 454,000 b/d Mina Abdullah and 346,000 b/d Mina al-Ahmadi refineries as part of the Clean Fuels Project (CFP). Around 9,500t of gasoline left Mina Abdullah in the first quarter of the year, up from 8,300t in 2022. </p><p>Kuwait's refinery production increased by around a fifth to 754,000 b/d in 2022, according to new figures from the Joint Organisations Data Initiative (Jodi).</p><p class="bylines">By Rithika Krishna </p></article>
