New plants, US trade worries to drive China's 2025 naphtha imports to record

NEW DELHI/BEIJING (Reuters) -China's naphtha imports will hit record levels this year as new plants and caution over U.S. propane and ethane purchases will drive demand and support refiners' margins for the petrochemical feedstock, analysts and traders said. Cracker operators in the world's largest petrochemical producer, which pivoted in recent years to cheaper U.S. propane and ethane feedstock, are switching some demand back to naphtha after being ensnared in the U.S.-China trade war that disrupted their U.S. supplies, the sources said.