Europe Gasoline/Naphtha-Cracks drop to 11-year low

LONDON, March 16 (Reuters) - Northwestern European gasoline refining margins dropped to around -$6.6 a barrel on Monday, their lowest since January 2009, tracking steep declines in U.S. margins. * U.S. gasoline prices and refining margins plummeted last Friday after the government imposed strict restrictions in the face of the coronavirus that were set to sharply reduce gasoline consumption. * Gasoline exports from Europe to the United States rose last week to around 333,000 tonnes onboard 9 vessels, a 10% rise from the previous week, Refinitiv data showed. * The arbitrage was nevertheless shut this week following sharp falls in gasoline prices on both sides of the Atlantic. * The sharp drop in prices has nevertheless prompted some Asian customers to resume buying as China's economy gradually resumes activity, traders said. * China's daily refinery throughputs dropped 4.8% in the first two months of the year, sliding to the lowest level since December 2018, as the coronavirus outbreak cut deep into production in February. * Gasoline stocks held in independent storage in the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA) refining and storage hub fell by 4% to 1.17 million tonnes in the week to Thursday, data from Dutch consultancy Insights Global showed. * U.S. gasoline stocks fell by 5 million barrels last week, double analysts' forecasts in a Reuters poll. Gasoline (in tonnes) Trades Bids Offers Prev. Sellers Buyers (vol.) Trades Ebob $188 $232 Vitol Hartre Barges e MOC Platts E5 (fob ARA) <EUROBO B-ARA> Ebob Barges E10 Platts( fob ARA) Ebob $243-$288 Barges (7KT) Argus E5(fob AR) Ebob $254(2KT) Barges E10 Argus (fob AR) April $221.25 $282 swap fob ARA Premium $212-$21 $260-$270 Hartree Shell Unleade 5 (12 d (fob barges) ARA) <PU-10P P-ARA> Cargoes $258 (fob (Falcon MED) ara) Cargoes (cif NWE) Naphtha (cif NWE) <NAF-C- NWE> Ebob crack (per barrel) -$6.64 prev. -$4.26 Brent futures Rbob Rbob crack <RBc1-CLc1> (Reporting by Ron Bousso; editing by Barbara Lewis)