Petrochemical makers across Asia hit by weak margins

Singapore

ASIAN petrochemical makers, who are unable to pass down sky-high feedstock costs, are resorting to run cuts or extending cracker shutdown periods to tide through the bad times.

The gloom was evident across South Korea, Asia's top naphtha importer, as well as South-east Asia as crude-derived naphtha premiums were recently either setting new records or were near record levels because of a supply crunch following drone attacks on Saudi oilfields in mid-September and heavy refinery maintenance.