Diesel premium remains stable; what signals are revealed by the diverging crack spreads of refined oil products in Asia?

(1) Following the launch of spot tenders last weekend, major Northeast Asian refiners have successively announced diesel sales plans for September shipments. Market quotations generally remain in the premium range, and even for cargoes delivered at the end of September, sellers still show no significant weakening in bargaining power, indicating that the current regional supply-demand structure has not undergone a fundamental reversal. (2) The Singapore spot market saw no deals for jet fuel and diesel throughout the day, with buyers and sellers exhibiting a clear divergence in price expectations. The shrinking trading volume often signals the approach of a cyclical turning point, and the market is currently in a stage of reduced-volume games before a directional move. (3) The diesel cracking spread remains stable at around $70 per barrel, and jet fuel continues to trade at nearly a $2 discount to diesel. The price spread between refined products reflects the ongoing weakness of jet fuel relative to diesel, and the uneven recovery of end-user consumption is the main factor holding back improvements in jet fuel valuations. (4) Asian naphtha prices are declining alongside crude oil, with September second-half shipment price estimates falling from around $800 previously to about $780, though concerns over Middle East supply stability persist. Gasoline cracking spreads are moving against the trend, widening to about $22 from around $21 yesterday. The differentiation in strength between refined products is intensifying, and traders will closely monitor the interplay between Northeast Asian export rhythms and Middle Eastern geopolitical developments.