Japan’s 2015/16 LNG imports down 6.2 percent

Japan’s imports of liquefied natural gas dropped 6.2 percent in the fiscal year that ended March 31, preliminary data from Japan’s Ministry of Finance showed on Wednesday.

The world’s largest buyer of chilled gas imported 83.57 million mt of LNG in the fiscal year spanning from April 2015-March 2016, as compared to 88.51 million mt in the same period a year ago.

Japan paid US$41.77 billion for LNG imports in the April-March period as oil and gas prices fell. This is down 41.4 percent as compared to the same period a year before, according to the data.

Japan’s imports of LNG reached 85.05 million mt in 2015, a drop of 3.9 percent as compared to the year before.

This was the first drop in Japan’s annual LNG imports since the devastating earthquake and tsunami in March 2011 which caused Japan to shut down its nuclear industry.

March imports slightly up

Japan’s imports of liquefied natural gas reached 8.15 million mt in March, according to the data.

March LNG imports rose 0.1 percent as compared to the same month in 2015. This is also the first increase in Japan’s monthly LNG imports in 2016.

The country paid $3.17 billion for LNG imports in March, a drop of 43.7 percent when compared to the year before.

LNG World News Staff