Asia's naphtha price fell to its lowest in five months on Monday, while cracks hit a near two-week low as ample supplies remained an issue for sellers.

The weak fundamentals were reflected in the sharply lower sales premiums fetched by Chinese WEPEC and India's ONGC and Reliance.

WEPEC sold a parcel for August loading at steep discounts of $11.00 to $13.00 compared to premiums of $4.00 a ton it had fetched for a February cargo.

"The market is in a bad shape," said a trader, referring to ample supplies.

The fact that there are Western cargoes arriving in Asia next month is not necessarily because the East is in need of them, traders said.

It could be due more to the possibility that there are limited sales outlets for naphtha other than Asia, they added.

Gasoline cracks in contrast were stronger, hitting a four-session high.

Pakistan bought 35,000 tons of 87-octane gasoline for July 2-3 arrival from Glencore at premiums of $76.00 a ton to Middle East naphtha quotes on a cost-and-freight (C&F) basis.

This brought its total spot purchases for June-July arrival to 120,000 tons, on top of the 210,000 tons it bought for July-October arrival as it needed to plug a supply shortfall.

Swaps Outrights: (CFR Japan): July swaps fell $31.25 to $855.75 a ton, while August swaps fell $30.75 to $871.50 a ton.

East-West Spreads: (The differential between CFR Japan swaps and Northwest Europe swaps): Asia's July swaps were $7.25 a ton higher than Northwest European values versus $6.75 a ton higher from the previous session.

Swaps Cracks: Discounts on crack spreads widened 93 cents to $7.24 a barrel to Brent crude.

Japan Open-Spec Naphtha: The price for front-month first-half August fell $38.00 to $858.50 a ton, lowest since Jan. 26 at $855.50 a ton.

Backwardation/Contango: The intermonth contango between first half August and first-half September narrowed 50 cents to $2.00 a ton.

Crack Spread: Cracks -- the profits or losses of refining Brent crude into naphtha -- plunged $18.96 to $78.43 a ton, lowest since June 15 at $72.85 a ton.

Naphtha Tenders: India's BPCL re-offered 10,000 tons of naphtha from Haldia.

— The cargo was initially scheduled to be lifted on July 1-5 in a tender which closed on June 22.

— The refiner is pushing back the lifting dates to July 5-12 in a new tender which closes on June 28.

— China's WEPEC sold a rare 30,000-ton naphtha cargo for Aug. 1-3 loading from Dalian to Glencore at steep discounts of $11.00 to $13.00 a ton to Japan quotes on a free-on-board (FOB) basis.

— China's Unipec bought 35,000 tons for July 22-23 loading from Hazira from ONGC at premiums of $8.00-$9.00 a ton to Middle East quotes on a free-on-board (FOB) basis, making this its first purchase from the Indian state-owned firm.

— Separately, ONGC sold another 35,000-ton cargo for July 14-15 loading from Mumbai at premiums of around $7.50 a ton to the same price formula to Mercuria

— India's Reliance sold a long-range cargo to BP for July 17-22 loading from Sikka at premiums of $11.00-$13.00 a ton to Middle East quotes on a FOB basis.   

— Tasweeq offered the first naphtha cargo from the gas-to-liquid (GTL) joint-venture project between Qatar and Shell, with the medium-range parcel to be lifted in August.

Naphtha Cash Deals: No deals.

Reforming Margins: Gasoline's premium to naphtharecovered $2.22 cents to $16.86 a barrel, highest since June 21 at $17.43 a barrel.

Gasoline Cracks: Cracks - premiums/losses obtained from refining Brent crude into gasoline -- recovered 54 cents to $5.99 a barrel, highest since June 21 at $6.09 a barrel.

Gasoline Cash Trades: No deals for the first time in nearly four weeks.