SINGAPORE, Feb 2 (Reuters) - Asian refining margins for jet fuel rose on Tuesday to their strongest in nearly two weeks, helped by tighter supplies of the aviation fuel and hopes that COVID-19 vaccines would help boost cross-border travel in coming months.
Refining margins, or cracks, for jet fuel JETSGCKMc1 climbed 7 cents to $4.16 per barrel over Dubai crude during Asian trading hours, the highest since Jan. 20.
However, the jet cracks, which have gained about 28% in the past week, might come under short-term pressure as several countries have tightened travel restrictions ahead of the Lunar New Year holidays to contain the spread of the coronavirus.
A recent resurgence of COVID-19 cases in Japan has forced authorities to halt their campaign to boost tourism and reinstate lockdowns in major cities, while Australian authorities have ordered a five-day lockdown of Perth starting Monday. flight seats in Japan were down 50.7% year-on-year in the week to Feb. 1, a slight improvement from a 51.3% drop in the previous week, while scheduled seats in Australia were 63.2% lower year-on-year, against a 65.2% drop last week, aviation data firm OAG said.
Global scheduled flight seats rose for the first time in six weeks to be down 49.9% year-on-year in the week to Monday, compared with a 51.9% drop in the preceding week, OAG data showed.
Cash differentials for jet fuel JET-SIN-DIF were at a discount of 17 cents per barrel to Singapore quotes on Tuesday, compared with a 16-cent discount a day earlier.
The Feb/March time spread for the aviation fuel in Singapore JETSGSPDMc0 widened its contango by a cent to trade at a discount of 26 cents per barrel, Refinitiv Eikon data showed.
TENDERS MDIS/TENDA
- Sri Lanka's Ceylon Petroleum Corp (Ceypetco) is seeking 264,000 barrels of jet fuel for discharge at Dolphin Tanker Berth, Colombo over Feb. 28-March 1 on a DAP basis. The tender closes on Feb. 9 and will remain valid for three days.
SINGAPORE CASH DEALS O/AS
- One gasoil deal, no jet fuel trades
OTHER NEWS
- China's efforts to keep people from travelling for Chinese New Year because of several clusters of COVID-19 infections are forcing analysts to revise first-quarter fuel demand estimates, but are not expected to derail its post-pandemic recovery. MID-DISTILLATES
CASH ($/T)
ASIA CLOSE
Change % Change Prev Close RIC Spot Gas Oil 0.5%
61.23
1.75
2.94
59.48 GO-SIN GO 0.5 Diff
-1.6
0.01
-0.62
-1.61 GO-SIN-DIF Spot Gas Oil 0.25%
61.33
1.75
2.94
59.58 GO25-SIN GO 0.25 Diff
-1.5
0.01
-0.66
-1.51 GO25-SIN-DIF Spot Gas Oil 0.05%
61.6
1.75
2.92
59.85 GO005-SIN GO 0.05 Diff
-1.23
0.01
-0.81
-1.24 GO005-SIN-DIF Spot Gas Oil 0.001%
62.82
1.76
2.88
61.06 GO10-SIN GO 0.001 Diff
-0.01
0.02
-66.67
-0.03 GO10-SIN-DIF Spot Jet/Kero
60.07
1.48
2.53
58.59 JET-SIN Jet/Kero Diff
-0.17
-0.01
6.25
-0.16 JET-SIN-DIF
For a list of derivatives prices, including margins,
please double click the RICs below.
Brent M1
BRENTSGMc1
Gasoil M1
GOSGSWMc1
Gasoil M1/M2
GOSGSPDMc1
Gasoil M2
GOSGSWMc2
Regrade M1
JETREGSGMc1
Regrade M2
JETREGSGMc2
Jet M1
JETSGSWMc1
Jet M1/M2
JETSGSPDMc1
Jet M2
JETSGSWMc2
Gasoil 500ppm-Dubai
GOSGCKMc1
Cracks M1
Gasoil 500ppm-Dubai
GOSGCKMc2
Cracks M2
Jet Cracks M1
JETSGCKMc1
Jet Cracks M2
JETSGCKMc2
East-West M1
LGOAEFSMc1
East-West M2
LGOAEFSMc2
LGO M1
LGOAMc1
LGO M1/M2
LGOASPDMc1
LGO M2
LGOAMc2
Crack LGO-Brent M1
LGOACKMc1
Crack LGO-Brent M2
LGOACKMc2