(Reuters) -- South Korea's Samsung Total Petrochemicals is seeking naphtha for August 2011 to June 2012 delivery as its current term contract is about to end, traders said on Friday. The buyer is seeking open-spec naphtha with a maximum mercury content of 10 parts per million (ppm) in a tender which closes on June 10.
Samsung Total has a total of about 600 KT of naphtha in its current contract which spans from September 2010 to August 2011.
The price of the existing contract, inked in July last year, was minus USD 4.00 a tonne to Japan spot quotes on a cost-and-freight (C&F) basis.
Naphtha sentiment has slumped since May 12 after Asia's top naphtha buyer Formosa shut a cracker following a fire at its pipeline. The weak market will be favourable to buyers, as inter-month spreads, an indication of how much buyers will pay for spot cargoes, flipped into a discount for the first time in 7-1/2 months on May 31.