By Mohi Narayan
NEW DELHI (Reuters) -Indian refiner HPCL-Mittal Energy Ltd has issued a rare spot tender seeking two cargoes of naphtha for November delivery after its Russian supplies of the petrochemical feedstock were hit, three trade sources said on Monday.
The tender, which was scheduled to close on Friday, has been extended until November 12, one of the sources said.
HMEL is seeking naphtha with a minimum 60% paraffin content and a maximum sulphur content of 500 ppm for delivery at Mundra port in Western India during November 9-12 and November 13-18, two of the three sources added.
The company meets part of the naphtha requirement for its cracker from its 226,000 barrel-per-day refinery in the northern state of Punjab. The refinery and the cracker are located in the same complex.
The refinery will undergo a 40-day maintenance shutdown from the second half of this month. The cracker, however, will remain functional during that period, one of the three sources said. [REF/OUT]
The company did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
HMEL’s Russian naphtha imports have been hit after Adani Group, which operates Mundra port, tightened scrutiny and barred berthing of sanctioned vessels at its facilities.
The move follows a discharge of feedstock from a sanctioned vessel despite Adani’s order in September, a separate source with knowledge of the matter said.
Adani Group also did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment.
The vessel Autan carrying 35,000 tonnes of naphtha arrived at Mundra on November 5 but has yet to berth, according to LSEG trade flows. Autan is sanctioned by the European Union and the United Kingdom.
(Reporting by Mohi Narayan; Editing by Nidhi Verma and Jan Harvey)
