Post #6028

🇺🇸🇰🇷U.S. Displaces Gulf as Top Naphtha Supplier to Korea The United States has become South Korea's largest naphtha supplier following the outbreak of the U.S.-Iran conflict in late February, now accounting for 24.7% of Korean imports. Before the war, the U.S. ranked seventh — behind the UAE, Algeria, Qatar, Kuwait, and India. India, Algeria, and the UAE now fill the remaining top slots at 23.2%, 14.5%, and 10.2% respectively. The shift reflects a supply availability response rather than a confirmed structural realignment — South Korea's Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources cautioned that the naphtha market remains highly price-sensitive. Seoul is on track to secure up to 90% of pre-war supply levels for May, aided by import diversification, policy support, and supplementary imports of basic petrochemical feedstock from China. Korea's petrochemical sector is expanding plant operations in line with recovering inbound volumes, with April contract activity matching all of March within just two weeks. #SouthKorea#USA @asianomics