SINGAPORE: Asian jet fuel refining margins dropped yesterday as aviation demand remained muted in the face of prolonged travel restrictions as coronavirus cases continue to climb across the region.
Refining profit margins, also known as cracks, for jet fuel fell to 62 US cents a barrel over Dubai crude during Asian trading hours yesterday, down from 72 US cents in the last trading session on Friday.
The market was closed on Monday for a public holiday.
The jet cracks, which averaged US$1.93 a barrel over Dubai crude over June-July after posting a record low in May, have shed 60% this month, Refinitiv Eikon data shows.
Airlines have been forced to keep the majority of their international fleets grounded as global coronavirus cases have pushed past 20 million, according to a Reuters tally, with the United States, Brazil and India accounting for more than half of all known infections.
“We continue to see markets with flare-ups of Covid-19 adversely affected, ” aviation data firm OAG said in a statement.
Scheduled flights in India were down 60.8% year on year in the week to Aug 10, while South Korea’s scheduled flights in the week to Monday were about 41% lower than the corresponding period last year, OAG data showed.
Cash differentials for jet fuel were at a discount of 64 US cents a barrel to Singapore quotes on yesterday, compared with a discount of 61 US cents on Friday.
Meanwhile, cash differentials for 10 ppm gasoil flipped to a discount of nine US cents a barrel yestersday. — Reuters
