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China Aviation Oil , has bought via tender 630,000 tonnes of jet fuel for October to December, traders said on Wednesday, raising its total annual volume by 30.2 percent from last year.

The latest purchase puts the company's total for this year at 2.588 million tonnes, traders said.

China Aviation, which supplies nearly all of China's jet fuel imports, said it bought 1.988 million tonnes in 2003.

China's jet fuel consumption could grow about 15 percent next year from an estimated 5-6 million tonnes this year, one industry source said.

China Aviation, which also provides a third of total Chinese jet fuel consumption, will get more supply from Singapore than South Korea in the latest tender. South Korean refiners need to stockpile to meet peak demand for kerosene and diesel for winter heating, traders said.

"Supply was more from Singapore and it was a mix of cost-and-freight and free-on-board cargoes," one trader said.

South Korea was awarded about 150,000 tonnes in the tender, traders said.

The cost-and-freight premiums were $1.80-$1.90 a barrel to Singapore spot quotes for October deliveries. Prices were 60-70 cents higher at $2.50 a barrel for arrivals in November and December, they said.

Cargoes for October were at 60-70 cents a barrel above benchmark prices on a free-on-board (FOB) South Korea basis, while FOB spot premiums for loadings in November and December ranged from $1.30 to $1.60 a barrel, traders said.

"The large size of the upcoming quarter's fuel requirements is strong evidence that the commercial aviation sector in China remains robust," Chen Jiulin, the company's managing director and CEO, said in a statement on Tuesday, ahead of the tender award.

Additional spot tenders could be expected in the upcoming quarter, the company said. In the third quarter, China Aviation bought an additional 30,000 tonnes of jet fuel on top of the 630,000 tonnes bought via the quarterly tender.

"Jet fuel demand in China is on the rise," said a Singapore-based industry source, who declined to be named.

"Demand is still robust despite Beijing's efforts to cool down the economy," he added.

China Southern's passenger traffic soared 72 percent in the first six months of 2004 from a SARS-blighted 2003.