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“Spark30S Atlantic freight rates dropped for a second consecutive week, falling by $4,000 to $20,000 per day – the largest week-on-week drop since November 2024,” Qasim Afghan, Spark’s commercial analyst, told LNG Prime on Friday.
Similarly, Spark25S (Pacific) dropped by $3,000 to $18,750 per day, he said.
“This is the first time that Spark25S (Pacific) rates have dropped below $20,000 per day, and are the lowest Pacific rates on record for a 174 2-stroke vessel.” Afghan said.
US LNG cargoes divert to Europe
In Europe, the SparkNWE DES LNG increased compared to $13.324/MMBtu last week.
“The SparkNWE DES LNG front month price for February delivery rose by $0.340 to $13.664/MMBtu,” Afghan said.
He said the discount to the Dutch TTF “widened for a third consecutive week, reaching its widest margin of -$0.31/MMBtu and indicating increased demand for LNG delivery slots in NW-Europe.”
“The US arb to NE-Asia (via the Cape of Good Hope) for February widened by $0.241 to -$0.851/MMBtu, strongly signaling that US cargoes are incentivized to deliver to Europe instead of Asia,” Afghan said.
“The front-month US arb to NE-Asia (via the Cape), having been marginal for much of December, has remained below -$0.5/MMBtu for over three weeks now, which is likely a large driving factor behind the recent diversions of US cargoes away from Asia and towards Europe,” he said.
In addition, “the US arb to NE-Asia via Panama Canal is also firmly closed at -$0.724/MMBtu,” he said.
Last week, Norway’s Equinor extended the shutdown of its 4.3 mtpa Hammerfest LNG export plant, which mainly supplies LNG to European countries, by 10 days due to additional repair work.
A spokeswoman for Equinor told LNG Prime on Friday that the company still expects to restart the facility on January 19.
Data by Gas Infrastructure Europe (GIE) shows that volumes in gas storages in the EU declined considerably from last week and were 63.64 percent full on January 15.
Gas storages were 68.24 percent full on January 8, and 78.21 percent full on January 15, 2024.
JKM
In Asia, JKM, the price for LNG cargoes delivered to Northeast Asia in March 2025 settled at $13.1745/MMBtu on Thursday.
Last week, JKM for February settled at 14.155/MMBtu on Friday, January 10.
Front-month JKM dropped to 14.140/MMBtu on Monday, 14.135/MMBtu on Tuesday, and 14.129/MMBtu on Wednesday.
State-run Japan Organization for Metals and Energy Security (JOGMEC) said in a report earlier this week that JKM was trending lower throughout the last week as “demand in Northeast Asia remained weak and dropped from high prices at the start of the year.”
Asia LNG physical MOC activity weakens
Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights, said in report on Friday that the Asia LNG physical market on close assessment process for the February JKM pricing period — December 16-January 15 — saw a decline in activity as trading houses and portfolio companies reduced operations during the holiday season and muted buying interest amid sufficient inventories.
The physical MOC during the pricing period of JKM February saw 14 entities report 169 bids, offers and trades, down 53.95 percent month over month, it said.
According to Platts, five entities, Shell, Vitol, Marubeni, CNOOC, and Uniper, reported three trades for January and February shipments to be delivered into the Japan-Korea-Taiwan-China region. This is equivalent to about 195,000 mt of LNG cargoes.
Other market participants who participated in the physical Platts MOC assessment process include DGI, Engie, Glencore, PetroChina, Total Energies, Trafigura, ENBW, Freepoint, and Mercuria, the report said.
Platts said the Asian spot LNG prices during the JKM February pricing period were down by 5.03 percent from the previous pricing period as a surplus in inventory levels and a mild winter curbed buying interest.
Market sentiment in Northeast Asia remained weak despite entering the traditional winter peak season. High inventory levels, existing supply contracts, and elevated prices tapered buying interests among end-users, resulting in quiet market activity in the JKTC region, the report said.
The Platts JKM, the benchmark price reflecting LNG delivered to Northeast Asia, was down month over month, with the average JKM price in December 16-January 15 at $14.129/MMBtu, it said.