Asian jet fuel discounts slip to nine-yr seasonal low as supply swells

Asian jet fuel price discounts stand at their lowest December levels in nine years as a supply glut offsets consumption even as the region's aviation sector booms, reports Reuters.

The slump is a mirror image of the steep gains Asian aviation fuel price differentials saw in the first quarter of this year. Then, tight supply lifted them to their highest seasonal levels in a decade.

The cash differentials for jet fuel in the Asian trading hub of Singapore were at a discount of $1.06 a barrel below benchmark quotes on Monday, the weakest for this time of year since 2009, according to Refinitiv Eikon data.

Cash differentials are represent the price buyers are prepared to pay for fuel over or below benchmark values published daily by price reporting agencies.

"Clearly the physical market does not believe that the high prices of jet paper (contracts) are justified," said Sukrit Vijayakar, director of energy consultancy Trifecta. "That is what is causing the weakness in the cash differentials."

The weakness also comes as winter in the northern hemisphere has seen a mild start: The outlook is largely for an unusually mild season because of an El Nino weather pattern.

That's especially the case in Japan, where kerosene - almost identical to jet fuel - is commonly used for heating.

The low kerosene consumption and high yields for churning out jet fuel are luring refiners to pump out more of the latter, market sources said, weighing on the price traders are willing to buy it for.

And the low cash prices are starting to weigh on refinery margins, traders said.

Refining margins, also known as cracks, for jet fuel were at $15.66 a barrel over Dubai crude during Asian trading hours on Monday - down 19 per cent in the last four weeks.