Japanese liquefied natural gas imports declined last month by 0.4 percent after three successive increases and year-on-year costs more than doubled as volumes increased from Asia and Australia.
Shipments of LNG to Japan’s network of 37 terminals amounted to 6.16 million tonnes in July 2022, or 92 cargoes, compared with 6.19MT, or 91 cargoes, in July 2021, according to the preliminary trade figures from the Japanese Ministry of Finance.
Japan had imported 5.80MT in June 2022 compared with 5.70MT in the same month of 2021.
The nation’s LNG costs in July 2022 amounted to 773.1 billion yen ($5.65Bln), a more that 124 percent increase compared with the 344.99 Bln yen ($2.52Bln) paid in June 2021.
The effect on Japan’s balance of payments was severe in June as the Japanese yen dropped to a 24-year low against the dollar, though it recovered in late July and August, though dollar-based commodities like energy are still more expensive when converted back into yen.
Japan’s 2021 LNG cargo deliveries had been less than those of China for the first time and came to 74.31MT, down 0.2 percent on 2020 and 4.62MT less that the Chinese total for 2021.
Japanese thermal coal shipments also fell in July to 9.36MT, down by 4.1 percent from July 2021.
The price of thermal coal deliveries jumped higher to 408.46Bln yen ($2.98Bln), up 262.4 percent from July 2021.
During July the volumes of delivered LNG increased from Asia and Australia compared with last year.
