LNG

Dec 20 (LNGJ) - Japan’s November LNG imports declined almost 4 percent to 5.33 million tonnes, or 79 cargoes, compared with 5.55MT, or 82 cargoes, in November 2022, the Finance Ministry said in its provisional trade statistic. Most of the deliveries came from Australia or the spot market and these amounted to 3.03 million tonnes.

   Imports from the US were down more than 50 percent year-on-year to 191,000 tonnes. Deliveries from the Middle East were also lower by more than half at 481,000 tonnes. LNG shipments from Asian export plants to Japanese terminals increased by 5 percent to 1.63MT while deliveries from Russia amounted to 446,000 tonnes, down by 14.4 percent from November 2022. Thermal coal imports fell 2.4 percent to 8.31MT.

Chinese liquefied natural gas imports increased by over 28 percent last month, though the recovery in cargo deliveries may not be enough to recapture the No. 1 global LNG importer position in 2023 that was ceded to Japan in 2022.

June 15 (LNGJ) - Japanese LNG imports dropped by almost 20 percent in May to 4.61 million tonnes compared with 5.76MT in May 2022. The Finance Ministry figures also showed the LNG cargo costs were down by more than 30 percent from a year ago to 412.77 billion yen ($2.95Bln), which was 31.6 percent lower than the May 2022 LNG cargo bill of 606.23Bln yen ($4.33Bln). Thermal coal imports also tumbled by 27.4 percent to 6.18MT.

   The Ministry said that Asian LNG deliveries amounted to 1.36MT, Middle East cargo volumes came to 545,000 tonnes, Russian deliveries numbered 559,000 tonnes and US shipments came to 267,000 tonnes. The balance of deliveries in May of 1.88MT came mostly from Australia and the spot market.

Japanese liquefied natural gas imports dropped almost 19 percent in April even as cargo numbers remained stable from Australia but declined from other regions as milder weather and higher energy storage curbed demand for LNG cargoes as well as thermal coal.

Japanese liquefied natural gas imports for the first six months of the current fiscal year rose by 4 percent and with deliveries from the Russian Far East Sakhalin liquefaction plant increasing year-on-year and costing 90 percent more than the previous year as more Atlantic Basin shipments pointed at Europe.

Japanese liquefied natural gas imports plunged almost 12 percent last month as cargoes from Australia maintained momentum and those from other regions dropped  with the biggest faller being US shipments.

Japanese LNG imports in February 2022 amounted to 7.10 million tonnes, or 104 cargoes, compared with 8.07MT, or 118 shipments, in February 2021 2021, according to the preliminary trade figures from Japan's Ministry of Finance.

Deliveries of LNG to Japan in January 2022 had tumbled by 15.8 percent to 6.78MT, just under 100 cargoes, compared with 8.06MT in January 2021.

The cargoes received in February cost 676.22 billion yen ($5.72Bln), which was 65.3 percent more than in February 2021 when the costs were 409.06Bln yen ($3.46Bln).

The recent changes in Japan’s LNG delivery system came after the nation formally ceded the No. 1 LNG import position in 2021 to China.

Shipments to Chinese terminals in 2021 had amounted to 78.93MT which was 18.3 percent more than in 2020.

Japan’s Finance Ministry confirmed annual cargo deliveries to Japan as 74.31MT, down 0.2 percent on 2020 and 4.62MT less that the Chinese total for 2021.

Shipments of LNG to Japan in February 2022 from Asian countries dropped by 5.9 percent year-on-year to 1.83MT.

Middle East cargo deliveries from nations like Qatar were also much lower, down 28.9 percent to 854,000 tonnes.

US cargoes drop

LNG imports from the US plunged by the largest margin of all countries of 56.6 percent year-on-year in February 2022 to 411,000 tonnes and were well down on the 651,000 tonnes delivered in January 2022.

The balance of imports in February 2022 came from Australia, African nations and the spot market and amounted to 3.35MT, which was higher than the 3.24MT received in February 2021 and the 3.12MT logged in the previous month.

The February 2022 trade data showed that Japanese imports of thermal coal fell by less than LNG shipments.

Thermal coal imports in February declined by 3.2 percent to 9.51MT as the Asian Northern Hemisphere enjoyed milder weather after coal shipments also fell just 1.3 percent in January to 10.54MT.

The almost parity levels between thermal coal imports and LNG shipments disappeared in 2021 with thermal coal deliveries jumping to 112.92MT, an increase of 7.7 percent.

Nuclear power generation in Japan is still much reduced with a handful of plants with nine reactors from a total of 16 plants with 50-plus reactors having gained the agreement to resume operations. 

Japan, the world's No. 1 liquefied natural gas importer, has stopped releasing monthly spot LNG prices contracted for or delivered to Japan that had been in force for seven years under the powerful Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) and after being brought in to monitor price surges.

Japan’s liquefied natural gas imports again declined on an annual basis by 3.7 percent in 2020 with only Australian, spot and US volumes increasing, though shipments to Japanese terminals still outstripped China’s during the month of December.

Japanese spot LNG prices for contracted and delivered cargoes increased in November from the previous month, while no year-on-year comparison was possible for fixed contracted volumes as in November 2019 no price was issued as the minimum number of shipments was not attained.

Japanese liquefied natural gas imports edged lower last month and thermal coal shipments also declined as power demand dropped because of milder weather, though LNG imports still increased from Asia nations and Australia.