Japan’s June LNG imports rise

Japan’s LNG imports increased slightly in June, showing signs of recovery following several monthly declines due to the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The world’s largest importer of LNG received 5.26 million tonnes of the fuel last month, up 1.2 percent from a year earlier and representing the first monthly rise in volumes this year.

Japan imported 4.51 million tonnes of LNG in May, marking an 11-year monthly low as the pandemic halted economic activity.

In the January-June period, LNG imports dropped 5.7 percent to 36.40 million tonnes with the costs reaching about $17.6 billion.

This compares to 38.58 million tonnes and around $21.23 billion recorded last year, respectively.

June LNG imports cost Japan about $2.3 billion, a decline of 10.6 per cent year-on-year, according to the provisional data released by Japan’s Ministry of Finance.

Last month’s LNG deliveries from Asia from countries such as Malaysia and Indonesia rose by 10.8 percent to 1.48 million tonnes, the data shows.

Middle East LNG shipments from sources like Qatar increased by 12.6 percent to 1.07 million tonnes

Shipments from Russia dropped 34.2 percent to 266,000 tonnes while US deliveries declined 24.4 percent to 207,000 tonnes.

On the other side, Japan’s monthly coal imports for power generation also increased.

Japan imported 8.21 million tonnes of coal in June, up 2 percent year-on-year, the ministry’s data shows.