Taiwan’s Formosa Petrochemical Corp (FPCC) secured higher discounts to get term naphtha for delivery over the third and fourth quarter of this year. FPCC got discounts of $5/tonne (€3.85/tonne) to Japan quotes CFR (cost-and-freight) Taiwan for a larger-than-expected delivery of around 500,000 tonnes of open-spec naphtha supply from July to December, the sources said. Last week tender had originally requested 25,000-225,000 tonnes to be delivered either July-September or July-December. The Asian naphtha market is under pressure from a glut in supplies from northwest Europe, Middle East and India. The freight costs between Taiwan and South Korea/Japan narrowed to about $1/tonne from original estimates of $2-3/tonne. The CFR Taiwan discount equates to a discount of $4/tonne on a CFR South Korea/Japan basis. A total of 15 companies had submitted offers - ranging from discounts of $1.50/tonne to $5/tonne - for the tender and five were selected offering discounts of $5/tonne. Neteast was one of the winners of the tender, sources said. The company was a small entity backed by a major Middle Eastern producer, traders said. FPCC had last week purchased a 75,000 tonne cargo at a discount of $1.50/tonne to Japan quotes CFR Taiwan to be delivered over the first half of June. Sources said that it was the first discount naphtha trade of the year.