China Aviation Oil Seeks Up to 1.4 mil Barrels Jet Fuel

China Aviation Oil (Singapore) is seeking up to 1.4 million barrels of jet fuel for May and June, with a slight spike in purchases in May, industry sources said.

CAO last bought up to 27,000 tonnes of jet fuel for delivery into Huangpu in May after already having bought up to 1.4 million barrels of jet fuel for April to May loading from North Asia earlier.

It is now seeking four 240,000-300,000-barrel cargoes for loading over May 21-31, June 1-10, June 11-20 and June 21-30, traders said.

The cargoes are to be loaded from South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia or Thailand.

The company is also seeking 25,000 tonnes, or 200,000 barrels, of jet fuel for delivery into Huangpu, China over June 6-8.

CAO is Asia's top jet fuel buyer and any spot purchases by the company usually keep the Asian jet fuel market well supported.

The slight spike in purchases for May could be due to an anticipated surge in travel demand ahead of Asia's largest trade event - China Import and Export Fair - in Guangzhou, south China from mid-April to early May, traders had said earlier.

Lower jet fuel output from Chinese refineries due to run cuts could also be creating tight supply in the domestic market, a second trader said.

Refineries in China, the world's second-largest oil consumer, processed 9.04 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil in March, down nearly 3 percent from a month ago to hit a five-month low, official data showed last week.