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Europe Gasoline/Naphtha-Gasoline cracks climb on stronger U.S. market
LONDON, Jan 23 (Reuters) - Northwest European gasoline refining margins rose reflecting a stronger U.S. market on Monday, while lower water level on the Rhine River continued to hamper trading activity.
* The U.S. market strengthened on the back of lower imports, market participants said.
* But high Atlantic (Shanghai: 600558.SS - news) basin inventories capped further gains.
* Water levels along the Rhine river continued to drop due to lack of rain, and were set to hit 50 centimeters at the key Kaub area in the coming days, barge operators said.(WL-KAUB)
* As a result, barge activity along the Rhine remained significantly limited, with barges unable to reach parts of Germany and Switzerland as a result.
* Asia's naphtha demand has surged since late 2016 as petrochemical makers are turning to the product after supplies of cheaper alternative LPG were consumed by heating demand amid cold regional weather.
* Asia is set to receive around 900,000 tonnes of naphtha from Western Europe and the Mediterranean in February, based on a survey of five traders in the market.
* China's 2016 gasoline output was up 6.4 percent year-on-year at 129.32 million tonnes to its highest since records began in Feb 2014, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed on Monday.
GASOLINE
* Vitol sold a barge of benchmark European eurobob gasoline to Noble at $542 a tonne fob ARA, compared with a bid at $536 a tonne on Friday.
* Elsewhere during the day, Gunvor sold a barge to Varo at $537 a tonne fob Amsterdam-Rotterdam, up from $530 a tonne on Friday.
* No trades of premium unleaded gasoline emerged.
* The February swap stood at around $543 a tonne at the close, unchanged.
* Gasoline barge refining margins rose to $9.94 a barrel, from $8.91 a barrel on Friday.
* U.S. front month RBOB gasoline futures were up 0.27 percent at $1.5702 a gallon by 1644 GMT.
* The U.S. gasoline crack (RBc1-CLc1) traded at $14.25 a barrel, up from $13.20 a barrel.
NAPHTHA (NAF-C-NWE)
* No cargoes traded.
(Reporting by Ahmad Ghaddar)
