CFR Far East

In the CFR Far East market last week, prices went up due to strong buying interest. The Rim Asia Index was at $628.00/mt for propane and $651.00/mt for butane as of Mar 14, up $17.75/mt from Mar 8. For propane, buying interest from traders trying to cover their short positions was strengthening and demand from China was increasing as well. Trafigura bought a 23,000mt propane cargo at a premium of $13.5/mt to April CFR Far East quotations (equivalent to $610.5/mt or a premium of $8.5/mt to the April CP as of Mar 13) from Chevron. For second-half April delivery, three traders were seen as a buyer in the market. For butane, Gyxis, a Japanese importer, carried out a buy tender for April delivery and Taiwan's CPC Corporation was also trying to buy a 22,000mt 50:50 cargo for Apr 21-30 delivery.

FOB Middle East

The April CP forecast was revised up to around $600/mt for propane and around $605/mt for butane due to strong crude oil prices. On the other hand, supply/demand of cargoes for April loading was seen to be slack. As freight rates for Middle East-Far East increased, buyers were hesitated to procure spot cargoes on an FOB Middle East basis while there were sellers trying to resell term cargoes in the spot market. SHV offered a 44,000-45,000mt 50:50 cargo for Apr 10-25 loading at $588/mt and a discount of $22/mt to the April CP (50% each) last Friday. The offer was seen to be equivalent to $584.25/mt or a discount of $18.25/mt to the April CP.

Asia Pressurized Market

On an FOB South China, buyers emerged looking for spot cargoes and spot demand strengthened. For April loading, offers were heard at a premium in the low $60's/mt to the April CP. In Southeast Asia, a Malaysian petrochemical player conducted a sell tender for three cargoes for second-half March loading. In Vietnam, some buyers were interested in spot purchase as there was apparently a supply shortage of LPG as Dung Quat refinery was scheduled to undergo maintenance.