Japan’s LNG imports rise 14.6 percent in January

Liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports into Japan increased 14.6 percent in January as demand for the chilled fuel for power generation rose on the back of low winter temperatures.

Japan imported 8.30 million mt of LNG in January, as compared to 7.24 million mt the year before, according to the provisional data released by Japan’s Ministry of Finance.

The country paid about $3.28 billion for LNG imports last month, a rise of 6.7 percent as compared to the same month in 2016, the data shows.

Japan’s average price of spot LNG hit its two-year high record during January. The average price of spot LNG bought last month was $8.40 per million British thermal units, up from $8 in the previous month and the highest since January 2015.

Worth mentioning, Japan imported 83.34 million mt of LNG in 2016, as compared to 85.05 million mt the year before.

This was the second 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.

LNG World News Staff