Japan’s spot LNG price drops to five-month low

The average price of spot LNG for delivery into Japan that was contracted in March 2017 was at US$6.2 per mmBtu, dropping to the lowest level in five months.

After rising for the previous four months, and reaching a contract-based price of $8.5 per mmBtu in February the price dropped over 27 percent, according to the monthly report from the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI).

The ministry did not report a contract-based price for the month of March in 2016 due to the lack of trading.

The price of spot LNG arriving into Japan during the month of March 2017 also dropped in comparison to the previous month.

According to the data, the arrival-based price reached $7.7 per mmBtu in March 2017, down 12.5 percent from $8.8 per mmBtu reported in February 2017.

However, in comparison to March 2016 when the ministry reported the arrival-based price of $6.8 per mmBtu, the price of spot LNG has risen 13.2 percent.

Only spot LNG cargoes are taken into account in this assessments, excluding short, medium and long-term contract cargoes, as well as those linked to a particular price index.

LNG World News Staff