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The country’s LNG imports decreased to 5.15 million tonnes last month compared to 5.43 million tonnes in September 2024.
LNG imports also dropped compared to 5.35 million tonnes in the prior month, which decreased by 6.5 percent year-on-year.
The ministry’s data also shows that Japan’s LNG imports decreased 4 percent year-on-year to 30.25 million tonnes in April-September.
Moreover, Japan’s coal imports for power generation decreased in September compared to the same month last year.
The data shows that coal imports were down by 22.1 percent to 8.36 million tonnes.
LNG import bill down
The September LNG import bill, which was about $2.8 billion, dropped by 13.3 percent compared to the same month last year.
According to JOGMEC, the average price of spot LNG cargoes for delivery to Japan contracted in September 2025 and scheduled to be delivered from the month onward (contract-based price) was $11.7/MMBtu.
Moreover, the average price of spot LNG cargoes that were delivered in Japan within the month of September 2025 regardless of the month when the contracts were made (arrival-based price) was also $11.7/MMBtu.
JOGMEC previously did not disclose spot prices for August.
The organization only publishes spot LNG prices in cases where two or more companies import spot LNG.
LNG inventories
METI previously announced that Japan’s LNG inventories for power generation stood at 1.81 million tonnes on September 7, down from 2.01 million tonnes the previous week.
According to METI, LNG inventories stood at 1.74 million tonnes on September 14, 1.87 million tonnes on September 21, 1.82 million tonnes on September 28, 1.86 million tonnes on October 5, 1.93 million tonnes on October 12, and 2.13 million tonnes on October 19.
Deliveries
As per LNG shipments going to Japan in September, deliveries from Asia rose by 14.1 percent year-on-year to 1.53 million tonnes, the ministry’s data shows.
Middle East LNG shipments decreased by 22.1 percent to 565,000 tonnes in September.
Moreover, shipments from Russia increased by 28.6 percent to 555,000 tonnes, while US deliveries dropped by 83.4 percent to 127,000 tonnes in September.
China and Japan
Japan, the world’s second-largest LNG importer, took 65.89 million tonnes of LNG last year, down 0.4 percent year-on-year, while China remained the top LNG importer and its imports increased by 7.7 percent to 76.65 million tonnes last year.
However, Japan took over the spot of the world’s largest LNG importer from China this year.
During January-September this year, China imported 47.44 million tonnes of LNG, a decrease of 16.7 percent compared to the same period last year.
Japan imported about 0.47 million tonnes more than China during the period.