Japanese imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) slipped 8.2 percent during the first six months of the year as monthly imports slipped again in June.
During the first half of the year, Japan imported a total of 38.6 million tons of LNG, down from 42.1 million tons in the corresponding period of 2018, the provisional data released by Japan’s Ministry of Finance
During the month of June liquefied natural gas imports reached 5.2 million tons, 6.3 percent down from 5.5 million tons in June 2018.
The country’s coal imports for power generation also dropped by 1.7 percent in June to 8 million tons, and by 2 percent for the first six months to 53.9 million tons.
Data shows that imports from the United States were up by 45 percent during the first half of the year, reaching 1.3 million tons. US LNG imports for the month of June jumped by 51.6 percent reaching 273,000 tons.
Imports from Asian sources such as Malaysia, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and Brunei hit 9.9 million tons in H1 dropping 14.2 percent. In July imports from Asian sources slipped 8.1 percent to 1.3 million tons.
LNG imports from the Middle East plunged 33.2 percent in June reaching 951,000 tons, while the six-month imports dropped 24.8 percent to 7 million tons.
The data further shows that imports of Russian LNG dropped 22.6 percent to 404,000 tons in June and 3 million tons for the first six months which is an 11.8 percent decrease.