Japan’s Sep LNG imports down almost 13 pct

Japan’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports declined by almost 13 percent in September year-on-year, according to the provisional data released by the country’s Ministry of Finance.

The world’s largest buyer of the chilled fuel imported 5.82 million mt of LNG last month as compared to 6.67 million mt in September 2016.

That marked a second straight month of year-on-year decline and the lowest monthly figure since May 2016, the ministry’s data shows.

On the other side, the country’s coal imports for power generation also dropped in September by 14.9 percent to 8.57 million mt

Japan paid about $2.39 billion for LNG imports in September, a rise of almost 8.6 percent when compared to the same month in 2016.

To remind, the average price of spot LNG imported into Japan that was contracted in September was at $6.9 per mmBtu. This was 19 percent higher from $5.8 per mmBtu in August when it was at its five-month high.

The arrival-based price was at $5.8 per mmBtu, a rise of 3.5 percent from the previous month.

LNG World News Staff