SINGAPORE, Feb 24 (Reuters) - Asia's middle distillates markets kickstarted Monday with slow trading activity on the window, with paper market timespreads narrowing amid cautious trading sentiment.

Jet fuel trading activity remained upbeat, as a handful of buyers and sellers both emerged from the sidelines for their March requirements.

The arbitrage window for Asian exports to the U.S. west coast, however, narrowed further, with flows likely to be minimal should spreads remain squeezed, one trade source said.

China refiners also started to be in action since late last week for March diesel and jet fuel export sales, given the slightly prompt loading timeline.

Total jet fuel exports are still likely to go back above 2 million metric tons for March, while diesel exports could fall slightly to 400,000-500,000 tons given the better domestic sale margins, some traders said.

On the diesel front, traders said remaining major refiners in northeast Asia had mostly settled their March spot sales, resulting in thinner spot liquidity.

Refining margins GO10SGCKMc1 slipped back down on Monday to slightly below $15.9 a barrel, reflecting the weaker performance in paper markets.

Cash differentials GO10-SIN-DIF slipped by 2 cents to close at a premium of 35 cents a barrel, reflecting the narrower backwardation in paper markets.

March and April paper timespreads both narrowed as cautious trading sentiment was mostly prevalent.

Regrade JETREG10SGMc1 widened back to above $1 a barrel, as jet fuel trading activity turned bearish amid ample supplies talk for March.

SINGAPORE CASH DEALS O/AS

- No deals for both fuels

REFINERY NEWS REF/OUT

- Japan's biggest refiner, Eneos Corp, said on Friday it had shut down a 141,000 barrels-per-day (bpd) crude distillation unit (CDU) at its Sakai refinery on February 17 after a fire there that day.

NEWS

- Myanmar and its close ally Russia signed a memorandum on investment cooperation in a special economic zone in Dawei, including construction of a port and an oil refinery, Russia's Ministry of Economic Development said on Sunday.

- Transpetro, the logistics subsidiary of Brazil's Petrobras PETR4.SA, is set to launch a tender for four new tanker vessels around the middle of 2025 and hopes to include nine others in the state-run oil firm's strategic plan for the 2026-2030 period, Transpetro chief Sergio Bacci told Reuters.

- Shares of Australian fuel retailer Ampol ALD.AX fell nearly 10% on Monday, after it reported a steep decline in annual profit and declared its lowest final dividend in a decade.

- Malaysia has no plans to raise palm oil's biodiesel blend to 20% from the current 10%, as the required infrastructure development would need funding that both the industry and the government are unwilling to provide, the commodities minister said on Monday.

- Oil prices slipped in Asia on Monday, extending losses from last week, on the prospect of a resumption of exports from Kurdistan's oilfields, while investors awaited clarity on talks to resolve Russia's war on Ukraine. O/R

PRICES

(Reporting by Trixie Yap)

((trixie.yap@thomsonreuters.com;))