Japan’s LNG imports edge up in April

Japanese imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) during the month of April have edged up after months of declines.

According to the provisional data released by Japan’s Ministry of Finance, a total of 5.62 million tons of the chilled fuel were imported into Japan, 0.3 percent above the 5.6 mtpa imported in April 2018.

The value of April LNG imports was about $2.83 billion, a rise of 5.8 percent on year.

The data shows that imports of US LNG jumped by 95.4 percent, reaching 138,000 tonnes, while imports from Asian sources such as Malaysia, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and Brunei rose 12.4 percent compared to the corresponding month in 2018, reaching 1.47 million tonnes.

Imports of liquefied natural gas from the Middle East reached 945,000 tonnes, 23.5 percent below the corresponding month in 2018. LNG imports from Russia reached 404,000 tonnes slipping 13.9 percent from April 2018.

The country’s coal imports for power generation dropped by 2.5 percent to 8.5 million tonnes, the data shows.

LNG World News Staff