Japan imports less naphtha from the Middle East

Japanese imports of naphtha from the Mideast Gulf fell by 5pc on the year during January-August. Exports from the UAE and Saudi Arabia have been significantly lower because of refinery turnarounds and lower crude runs.

But Japanese buyers increased naphtha imports from other sources, with total imports rising by 4pc to 11.71mn t during the eight-month period. The increase is linked to a fall in production as a result of refinery run cuts. Japan produced 173,625 b/d from 26 July to 29 August, down by 47.5pc from 330,470 b/d a year earlier, according to weekly data from the Petroleum Association of Japan, because of the impact from the Covid-19 pandemic.

Japan imported 1.66mn t of naphtha in August, up by 5.6pc from July and by 13.8pc from August 2019, according to customs data released today by the country's finance ministry.

Japan received 5.84mn t of naphtha from the Mideast Gulf during the eight-month period, down from 6.15mn t a year earlier, according to the ministry of finance.

Qatar was the top exporter of naphtha to Japan, supplying a total of 2.55mn t from January-August, up from 2.03mn t a year earlier. This made up more than 21pc of Japan's total naphtha imports and 43pc of all its Mideast Gulf naphtha imports during the eight-month period.

Imports from the UAE fell by 30pc to 1.59mn t during January-August from 2.26mn t a year earlier, with more naphtha diverted to the gasoline blending pool and reformers.

Japan imported 849,000t of naphtha from Kuwait during January-July, but took no cargoes from the country in August. Saudi Arabia sold just one 40,000t cargo to Japan in August, with total imports from the kingdom down to 415,000t over January-August from 620,000t in the year-earlier period.

Supplies from Bahrain were almost stable from a year earlier at 445,000t during January-August, but naphtha arrivals from the country rose above 100,000t in August from 75,000t in July. Planned maintenance at Bahrain's sole 262,000 b/d Sitra refinery may reduce its export capacity this month. Operator state-owned Bapco will shut down unspecified units for maintenance in the first week of October. It is unclear for how long the units will be off line, but market participants said the turnaround is likely to last 40 days.

By Elshan Aliyev