TOKYO: Liquefied natural gas (LNG) spot prices for buyers in Japan, the world’s top consumer, averaged $7.60 per million British thermal units (mmBtu) in June, the same as in April, trade ministry data showed.
Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) did not publish average LNG spot price for May due to a lack of sufficient trades, the sign of tepid global demand for the fuel.
That marked the first time that no prices have been published since Tokyo started surveying spot LNG prices in March 2014, looking to add transparency to the market amid concerns about rising fuel costs in the wake of the shutdown of nuclear plants after the Fukushima crisis.
Japan’s average price for total LNG imports in May fell to its lowest since September 2009, dragged down by declining oil markets, offering relief to the countries’ utilities which had been burning record amounts of the fuel after the Fukushima disaster.
Asian spot LNG prices for August delivery rose last week to $7.55 per mmBtu, with a pick-up in activity driven by trading houses and portfolio players manoeuvring volumes between the competitively priced Atlantic and Pacific basins.
The trade ministry survey looks at samples of fixed prices for LNG sold to power companies and utilities among others, and excludes spot deals linked to benchmark prices such as the U.S. natural gas Henry Hub index. Prices are converted to a delivered-ex ship (DES) basis.
The following table lists monthly prices for LNG per million British thermal units for average spot cargoes contracted during the month and those that arrived during the month.
