South Korea's jet fuel exports to the US rose to a 13-month high in April because of increased production and strong transpacific demand.
South Korea shipped 133,800 b/d of jet fuel to the US last month, which made up 77.6pc of its total exports of 172,300 b/d, according to data from state-owned oil company KNOC. April's exports to the US were the highest since 157,000 b/d in March 2020, and a 9.7pc rise from an eight-month high of 122,000 b/d in March.
Exports of May-loading jet fuel from South Korea to the US could fall back from April's level, according to Vortexa data. A total of 73,000 b/d of jet fuel has been booked to load from South Korea for the US so far in May.
The US aviation industry is facing a choppy recovery from the Covid-19 downturn. Increased vaccination rates and rising load factors look promising for traffic growth, but leery US consumers may still opt to travel by road this summer given fully-booked aircraft and tighter budgets amid inflation concerns.
South Korea's jet fuel production was 241,000 b/d in April, up by 7.5pc from 224,000 b/d in March but 17.8pc lower than the same month last year, KNOC data show. Domestic jet fuel consumption was 54,000 b/d last month, an 8.8pc fall from the previous month but more than double the level in April 2020 when air travel slumped because of the Covid-19 outbreak.
Operating rates at South Korea's refineries were 72.7pc last month, up from 70.8pc in March as refiners gradually returned from planned maintenance.

