Jet/Kero
Platts
The fuel of flight has no futures contract of its own: it trades as a differential to diesel, assessed daily by Platts.
Top Producers
share of 2024 global jet fuel production
Top Consumers
share of 2024 global jet fuel demand
Main Uses
jet and kerosene demand by end use
Top Exporters
share of 2024 seaborne jet fuel exports
Top Importers
share of 2024 seaborne jet fuel imports
Global Liquids Production
country share of roughly 105 million barrels per day of total liquids (crude, condensate, NGLs, biofuels, refinery processing gain), 2025 (IEA and EIA)
Global Liquids Consumption
share of roughly 105 million barrels per day of total liquids demand, 2025 (IEA and EIA)
Global jet fuel demand
roughly 7.7 million b/d
as of 2025
COVID demand trough
down roughly 70% in April 2020
EU SAF mandate
2% blend from January 2025, rising to 70% by 2050
Hedge instruments
ICE gasoil / NYMEX ULSD futures plus Platts jet differential swaps
Jet fuel is kerosene cut to aviation specification, and it is the rare major commodity with no liquid futures contract. Instead it trades as regional Platts assessments: jet CIF Northwest Europe cargoes, jet FOB US Gulf Coast, jet barges in New York Harbor, and the Singapore jet/kerosene quote for Asia. Each is quoted and hedged as a differential to the nearest liquid distillate contract, ICE Low Sulphur Gasoil in Europe and Asia, NYMEX ULSD in the US. An airline hedging program is therefore typically two trades: the big one in gasoil or HO futures, and a smaller jet differential swap, cleared on CME or ICE, to close the basis.
No product was hit harder by COVID. Global jet demand fell by roughly 70% in April 2020 as fleets were grounded; jet differentials went deeply negative, refiners blended unsold jet into the diesel pool, and recovery took years longer than for road fuels. Demand returned to roughly its 2019 level of about 7.5 to 8 million barrels per day during 2024 and 2025, with growth concentrated in Asia. The slow recovery reshaped hedging too: several large carriers that booked heavy losses on 2020 hedges cut back their programs, and US majors other than Southwest now hedge little or nothing, leaving fuel cost pass-through to ticket prices.
The forward-looking story is sustainable aviation fuel. The EU's ReFuelEU mandate requires a 2% SAF blend at EU airports from January 2025, rising in steps to 2050. Volumes remain small and SAF prices several times conventional jet, so for pricing purposes jet fuel remains a petroleum differential market, with SAF as a regulatory cost layered on top.
How It Trades
| Venue | Platts assessments in the regional MOC windows; swaps cleared on CME and ICE |
| Benchmark contract | Platts jet CIF NWE, jet FOB USGC, and Singapore jet/kerosene assessments, hedged as differentials to ICE gasoil or NYMEX ULSD |
| Contract size | Swaps typically in 1,000-barrel or 100-tonne lots; physical cargoes 10,000 tonnes and up |
| Price terms | USD per tonne in Europe; US cents per gallon in the US; USD per barrel in Singapore |
| Settlement | Cash settlement against the monthly average of the relevant Platts assessment; the underlying futures leg settles per its exchange rules |
| Typical curve | Follows the distillate curve with a differential that swings on aviation demand; the differential went negative in April 2020 and to record premiums in the 2022 distillate squeeze |
| Liquidity | Differential swaps are institutional and broker-driven; the outright hedge liquidity comes from gasoil and ULSD futures |
Where It Trades
approximate share of global daily traded jet hedging volume, 2025
Supply and Demand
Top producers
- US Gulf Coast refiners, the largest jet-producing complex
- Middle East export refineries supplying Europe and Asia
- Asian refining hubs: South Korea, India, China, Singapore
- Northwest European refiners supplying the ARA and UK import markets
Jet is a swing cut: refiners can move molecules between the jet and diesel pools within limits, so jet differentials ration which pool gets the kerosene.
Top consumers
- Asia-Pacific aviation, the fastest-growing region
- North American airlines
- European airlines and the major hub airports (Heathrow, Schiphol, Frankfurt, Dubai)
Major uses
- Commercial aviation turbine fuel (Jet A and Jet A-1)
- Military aviation fuels (JP-8 and equivalents)
- Kerosene heating and lighting in parts of Asia, a shrinking legacy use
What Moves the Price
- Air traffic volumes: passenger revenue miles and cargo demand
- The underlying gasoil and ULSD price, which carries most of the outright move
- Refinery yield switching between the jet and diesel pools
- Seasonal flying peaks in summer and the year-end holidays
- Airline hedging waves, which arrive in size when carriers decide to lock budgets
- SAF mandates and their cost pass-through, from January 2025 in the EU
- Geopolitical airspace closures and rerouting, which add fuel burn per flight
Moments That Made the Market
1990
Gulf War jet fuel spike teaches airlines the case for systematic hedging
2008
Jet follows the distillate squeeze to records; fuel overtakes labor as the largest airline cost line
2016
Heavy post-2014 hedge losses push several global carriers to shrink their programs
2020
COVID grounds world aviation; jet demand falls roughly 70% in April 2020 and differentials turn negative
2022
Jet cracks hit records in the post-invasion distillate shortage even as traffic is still recovering
2025
EU ReFuelEU mandate begins: 2% SAF blending required at EU airports from January 2025
What Changed Since the 2010 Handbook Era
- Hedging concentrated into gasoil and ULSD futures plus cleared jet differential swaps; OTC bilateral jet deals shrank after 2008-2010
- US airline hedging largely disappeared except Southwest; European and Asian carriers still hedge heavily
- COVID proved jet demand can halve in a month, a risk no model priced before 2020
- Asia overtook North America as the center of jet demand growth
- SAF mandates introduced a regulatory cost layer that did not exist in 2010