Japan imports less LNG in September

Japan’s imports of liquefied natural gas dropped 5 percent in September as compared to the same month a year ago.

The world’s largest buyer of the chilled gas imported 6.91 million tonnes of LNG last month, preliminary data from the Ministry of Finance reveals.

Japan paid 416,191 million yen for imports in September, down 32.4 percent as compared to 2014.

In the April-September period, Japan’s imports of the chilled gas declined 6.5 percent to 39.91 million tonnes, the data said.

LNG use and purchases by Japan’s ten independent regional electric power companies also dropped in September when compared to the same month in 2014.

The companies consumed 3.91 million mt of LNG and bought 4.72 million mt, down 12.8 percent and 5.5 percent, respectively, FEPC data showed.

Total electricity generated and purchased across the ten companies in September declined by 3.8 percent from a year earlier to 66.95 billion kWh, due to decreased cooling demands caused by relatively lower temperatures in September than the previous year.

1 Japanese yen = 0.008344 U.S. dollars

LNG World News Staff