Prices of liquefied petroleum gas and naphtha jumped in Asia on Thursday after Saudi Aramco halted exports from a key terminal, disrupting supplies to the region, according to trade sources and LSEG data, with India likely to take the biggest hit.
On Wednesday, Saudi Aramco said it halted LPG exports this week from its eastern terminal of Juaymah, one of the world's largest exporters of propane and butane, after structural damage on February 23 to a part of its delivery system.
The fuel from the terminal near the Jafurah gas field and Aramco's Ras Tanura refinery, is used for heating during winter, as well as cooking gas and petrochemical feedstocks for steam crackers. Aramco said it has cancelled the next few weeks' scheduled deliveries of propane and butane from Juaymah, while it weighs the scope and duration of the impact.
The disruption triggered a jump in prices of propane, butane and naphtha in Asia. Both March propane and butane futures on the Far East Index gained more than five per cent from Wednesday to $598 per tonne and about $612 a tonne respectively, LSEG pricing data showed.
March Japan naphtha swaps on cost and freight basis were up almost two per cent at about $619 per tonne, with the prompt monthly spreads widening more than $2 a tonne in backwardation from Wednesday's Asian close. Backwardation is the market structure of prompt prices higher than those in future months, indicating tighter immediate supplies.
India, the largest offtaker of LPG exported from Juaymah, is expected to be worst hit, traders said. Two tankers, Symi and Bw Elm, have arrived near the terminal while the tanker Jag Viraat is on the way to load LPG cargoes for Indian Oil Corporation and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation, shipping data on Kpler and LSEG showed.
IOC did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Another refining source said Indian refiners will have to seek alternatives to replace Saudi LPG cargoes due to the delays.
Up to 10 cargoes loading in March to India have been cut, a refining source with knowledge of the matter said, adding that some of these were purchased directly from Aramco. Each cargo typically ranges from 44,000 tonnes to 46,000 tonnes in size.
Buyers may look to the US for supply, which could push up prices more as there is already a backlog in US exports in recent weeks, three regional trade sources said. Juaymah's monthly exports of LPG stood at about 450,000 tonnes on average in 2025 and 2024, Kpler shiptracking data showed.
Last year, at least 60 per cent of its LPG exports were bound for India, the data showed, while China received about 15 per cent. Chinese traders expect less impact on China during a low demand season.
An executive at a Chinese LPG importer said many propane dehydrogenation (PDH) units will resume operation only after the lantern festival on March 3. China's PDH units are operating at slightly above 60 per cent of their capacities on average, slightly lower than usual due to turnarounds, two other trade sources said.
Separately, loadings of the first Jafurah condensate cargoes are unaffected for now, three trade sources said. One trade source added that the issue is limited to one pipeline and berth specifically for the Juaymah NGL facility.
(Reporting by Trixie Yap, Florence Tan and Chen Aizhu in Singapore, Shariq Khan in New York and Maha El Dahan in Dubai; Editing by Clarence Fernandez and Thomas Derpinghaus)