Asia's middle distillates markets were thinly discussed amid a major regional conference in Singapore, with price fluctuations equally minimal and trending in line with crude futures.

Several traders were still waiting for October offers to emerge, though the likelihood is quite slim this week, one source said.

Refining margins were little changed at around $14 a barrel, likewise the limited price fluctuations in the paper swap market and spot trading liquidity.

Spot cash discounts continued its downward trajectory, given the lack of firm buying interest in open trading markets - though lower-priced offers were scant. The market closed at around a discount of 62 cents a barrel, at slightly more than four-year low levels.

For jet fuel, activity was equally muted, with some traders waiting for a clearer direction on October spot supply availability.

Regrade was little changed at a discount of 10 cents a barrel.

- India's Chennai Petroleum Corp has shut one of its crude units and some secondary units at its 210,000 barrels-per-day (bpd) refinery in southern Tamil Nadu state for routine maintenance, a company source told Reuters.

NEWS

- China's consumer prices rose at a faster rate in August, while producer price deflation persisted, as Beijing maintained efforts to reinvigorate domestic demand.

- Japanese refiner Taiyo Oil is diversifying its crude oil sources and has switched from Russian to U.S. supplies, CEO Takahiro Yamamoto said at the APPEC conference on Monday.

- Oil futures jumped by about 1% on Monday as a potential hurricane approaching the U.S. Gulf Coast helped oil prices to recover some of the previous week's heavy losses.O/R

- Kuwait Petroleum Corp (KPC) was the top jet fuel supplier to northwestern Europe last year and is looking to expand its share in refined fuel consumption in some other markets as well, its managing director of international marketing said on Monday.

Source: Reuters