Asia Distillates-Jet cash discounts narrow, Singapore middle distillate stocks plunge

    SINGAPORE, April 8 (Reuters) - Asia's cash discounts for jet fuel narrowed on Thursday after
middle distillate inventories in Singapore dropped to a one-year low.
    Cash discounts for jet fuel JET-SIN-DIF were at 61 cents per barrel to Singapore quotes on
Thursday, compared with a discount of 63 cents per barrel a day earlier.
    The April/May time spread for jet fuel remained unchanged to trade at minus 40
cents per barrel on Thursday, Refinitiv Eikon data showed.
    Although air passenger demand continues to face headwinds from COVID-19 restrictions, the
regional jet fuel market is partly supported by limited supplies and steady air cargo demand,
market watchers said.
    Global air cargo demand in February, which showed strong month-on-month growth over January,
outperformed the pre-COVID levels of February 2019 by 9%, the International Air Transport
Association (IATA) said in a statement on Wednesday.
    Refining margins, or cracks, for jet fuel were at $4.11 per barrel over Dubai
crude during Asian trading hours on Thursday.
    
    AIR PASSENGER DATA - IATA
    - Air passenger traffic fell in February, compared with both January and February 2019, the
International Air Transport Association (IATA) said in a statement on Wednesday.
    - Global passenger traffic for February showed air travel demand was down 74.7%, compared
with the corresponding month in 2019, the IATA said.
    - February passenger traffic for Asia-Pacific airlines was down 95.2%, compared with
February 2019, IATA data showed.
    
    INVENTORIES
    - Singapore's middle distillate inventories dropped 2.4% to 12.96 million barrels in the
week ended April 7, according to Enterprise Singapore data.
    - Weekly Singapore middle distillate inventories have averaged 14.3 million barrels so far
this year, compared with an average of 13.9 million barrels in 2020, Reuters calculations
showed. This week's stocks were 4.3% higher than a year earlier.
    - U.S. distillate stockpiles rose by 1.5 million barrels in the week to April 2, the Energy
Information Administration said on Wednesday, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters
poll for a 486,000-barrel rise.

    SINGAPORE CASH DEALS
    - Three gasoil deals, no jet fuel trades
        
    OTHER NEWS
    - Crude oil prices fell on Thursday after official data showed a big increase in U.S.
gasoline stocks on the back of higher refinery runs, while demand remained subdued compared with
pre-coronavirus levels.
    
    ASSESSMENTS
 MID-DISTILLATES                                                    
 CASH ($/T)            ASIA CLOSE       Prev Close  RIC
 Spot Gas Oil 0.5%               65.38       65.03  GO-SIN
 GO 0.5 Diff                     -1.59       -1.53  GO-SIN-DIF
 Spot Gas Oil 0.25%              65.55        65.2  GO25-SIN
 GO 0.25 Diff                    -1.42       -1.36  GO25-SIN-DIF
 Spot Gas Oil 0.05%              65.80       65.53  GO005-SIN
 GO 0.05 Diff                    -1.17       -1.03  GO005-SIN-DIF
 Spot Gas Oil 0.001%             66.96       66.51  GO10-SIN
 GO 0.001 Diff                   -0.01       -0.04  GO10-SIN-DIF
 Spot Jet/Kero                   64.02       63.28  JET-SIN
 Jet/Kero Diff                   -0.61       -0.63  JET-SIN-DIF Brent M1                                                           
 Gasoil M1                                                          
 Gasoil M1/M2                                                       
 Gasoil M2                                                          
 Regrade M1                                                         
 Regrade M2                                                         
 Jet M1                                                             
 Jet M1/M2                                                          
 Jet M2                                                             
 Gasoil 500ppm-Dubai                                                
 Cracks M1                                          
 Gasoil 500ppm-Dubai                                                
 Cracks M2                                          
 Jet Cracks M1                                                      
 Jet Cracks M2                                                      
 East-West M1                                                       
 East-West M2                                                       
 LGO M1                                                             
 LGO M1/M2                                                          
 LGO M2                                                             
 Crack LGO-Brent M1                                                 
 Crack LGO-Brent M2                                                 
 
 (Reporting by Koustav Samanta; Editing by Devika Syamnath)