China to introduce market-based jet fuel pricing

China's producer price for aviation fuel will be determined by the market starting March, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), China's top economic planner, announced on Saturday.

China will advance market-oriented reform for aviation fuel pricing, an official with the NDRC said.

The producer price of jet fuel is composed of two parts, CIF (Cost, Insurance and Freightage) import price, which used to be decided by the NDRC and published on a monthly basis, as well as agio, which is affected by market supply and demand, number of transactions and international oil price trends.

The CIF import price of aviation fuel will be calculated and decided by the major state-owned oil companies Sinopec, PetroChina, CNOOC, and China Aviation Oil.

In July 2011, the NDRC decided to carry out a step-by-step market pricing scheme for the producer price of aviation fuel. For the past three-plus years, the scheme has progressed at a stable pace.